British couple sentenced to 10 years in Iran, family says

Craig and Lindsay Foreman, a British couple detained in Iran in January 2025 while on a motorcycle tour, have been sentenced to 10 years in prison on espionage charges, their family said. The relatives and the British government have rejected Iranian accusations of "security crimes." The family said an Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran held a hearing on Oct.

27 at which the couple were "not permitted to present a defense," and that the sentence was handed down by Judge Abolghassem Salavati. The judge was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2019 for presiding over what it called "show trials." Britain’s foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, called the sentencing "completely appalling and totally unjustifiable" and said the government would work to bring the couple home.

The announcement came after Britain condemned Iran at the United Nations and imposed new sanctions on Iranian officials over the killing of antigovernment protesters, amid high-stakes diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear program and concerns about a possible U.S. strike.

Iran, Tehran

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