The son of a British couple held in Iran on espionage charges has presented a petition with 70,000 signatures to Downing Street, demanding the government redouble its efforts to bring them home. Lindsay and Craig Foreman from East Sussex have now spent a full year in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, where they are being held on allegations they strenuously deny.
A Year of Anguish and Campaigning
Joe Bennett, Ms Foreman's son from Folkestone, Kent, marked the grim anniversary of his parents' detention by handing over the massive public petition on Saturday, 3rd January 2026. He was joined at the steps of Number 10 by former detainee Anoosheh Ashoori and Richard Ratcliffe, whose high-profile campaign involving hunger strikes helped secure his wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release from Iran.
Mr Bennett told the Press Association that the anniversary was 'not something we want to celebrate,' but the event was crucial to generate publicity and pressure. He expressed a desperate need for assurance that the government is working as hard as possible to secure their freedom. The 70,000 signatures, he said, send a clear message that the public views the detention as arbitrary.
Deteriorating Health and a Plea for Government Action
The emotional handover followed a choir of supporters singing 'Stand By Me' in a show of solidarity. Mr Bennett revealed the severe toll the incarceration is taking, stating that 'every day they are in prison chisels away at their mental and physical health.' While he can speak to them, the couple shield him from the worst of their reality.
He issued a direct plea for the UK government to publicly defend its citizens, denounce the espionage charges as 'barbaric,' and explicitly state that the Foremans are not spies. 'When you call it for what it is,' he argued, 'hopefully it gives you more leverage to be able to get the right thing done.'
Uncertainty Amidst Iranian Unrest
The campaign for the Foremans' release unfolds against a backdrop of violent protests in Iran, sparked by economic woes and inflation, which had claimed at least ten lives by that Saturday. Mr Bennett described the internal unrest as a 'worrying situation,' whose implications for his parents are unknown.
Amid this volatility, he has urged his parents to prepare for various scenarios, including a potential regime collapse and the practicalities of an escape from Evin prison. The family is left wondering whether they could rely on embassy help or would need to find their own way to a border.
The petition delivery coincided with a rally in Whitehall organised by the Association of Anglo-Iranian Women in the UK, which called on the British Government to demand an immediate end to Iran's crackdown on protesters and to executions.
