A BRIT couple held in Iran’s hellhole prison have warned their ordeal has become “life-threatening” as they criticized the government for abandoning them in a war zone.
Craig and Lindsay Foreman, both 53, say they are scared inside Tehran’s notorious Evin prison – with bombs raining down nearby as the Iran war escalates.
Speaking from behind bars for the first time since the conflict began last month, Mr Foreman said: “We are now in a war zone prison. We have gone from a challenging situation to a life-threatening one.”
An East Sussex couple jailed for 10 years for spying say they have been left without guidance as their situation worsens.
Mr Foreman said: “You have made a decision not to give us any information about what is happening to us, what to do and where to go if the prison doors open.”
He criticized the “serious lack of commitment” to their safety, saying they felt “let down, alone and completely hopeless”.
Read more about Foremans
nightmare call
British couple’s son was talking to his mother on the phone in an Iranian prison as bomb exploded in cell
pit of hell
Inside Iran’s ‘death factory’ where guards rape prisoners, British couple gets 10 years in prison
The couple say the case against them is false and claim the UK government knows it.
He said, “It is very difficult to understand why our innocence has not been publicly stated. We are not spies. The allegations made against us are not true.”
The pair were arrested in January 2025 while motorcycling around the world on a “once in a lifetime” trip – and their family later pleaded guilty after a sham trial.
They are now being held in separate cells in dire, deteriorating conditions inside the same prison where Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was once held.
His son Joe Bennett says the reality is worse than they are making it out to be.
“My mother is in pieces,” he said.
“The feeling that he has been abandoned by his own government is breaking him.”
He reveals that the couple are sleeping on metal cots without mattresses, facing food shortages and no medical care – while the prison is shaken by explosions from nearby attacks.
In one terrifying moment, Bennett was talking on the phone with his mother when an explosion occurred in the prison.
He said: “As the force of the bomb shattered the prison wings, she started screaming… I could hear the primal screams of dozens of other women. Then the line stopped.”
Bennett said the ordeal was “slow destruction” – adding: “They have nowhere to turn.”
The family say they are angry that ministers have refused to publicly declare the couple innocent, and claim the British embassy moved them out of Iran without warning.
The horrors inside Evin prison
Evin Prison sits in the shadow of the Alborz mountains in northern Tehran, but behind its walls is what survivors call a brutal “death factory.”
Built under the Shah in 1972 and later taken over after the Islamic Revolution, the prison has become notorious for holding political prisoners, foreign nationals and regime critics.
According to survivors and human rights groups, prisoners were raped, electrocuted, beaten senseless, and even executed in the courtyard.
Amnesty International says prisoners are dragged into underground interrogation chambers where they are tortured into signing forced confessions.
Others describe being completely cut off from the outside world – no phone calls, no visits – in a system designed to break them.
Some prisoners have reportedly gone mad, banging their heads on the walls or killing themselves to escape the torture.
Shabnam Madadzadeh, a former prisoner jailed for opposing the regime, said the brutality was constant.
“We were completely powerless,” she told The Sun.
“In that night of helplessness and sorrow, I vowed: I will never compromise with this regime.”
The cells are cramped, dirty and crawling with fear, with reports of prisoners sleeping on bare metal cots and being deprived of basic food and medical care.
Evin has also earned the nickname “Evin University” due to the number of academics and intellectuals housed inside.
Till date, no information has been received about the escape of any prisoner.
“I had to tell them the British Embassy was closed,” Bennett said.
“And I had to tell them that ministers had been advised not to say publicly that he was innocent.”
He also took aim at Britain’s slow response compared to other countries.
“Although France and Germany have secured the release of their citizens through vigorous intervention, Britain is still stuck in a wait-and-see policy,” he said.
The Foreign Office insists it is fighting for their release, and says the sentences are “utterly appalling and totally unfair”.
A spokesperson said: “We will continue to pursue this matter with the Iranian regime until we can safely return Craig and Lindsay to the UK.”
