Kent MP joins call for detained British couple to be brought home

Tony Vaughan MP joined a demonstration outside the Foreign Office calling for Iran to release Craig and Lindsay Foreman, a British couple sentenced to ten years in prison on espionage charges they deny.

Craig and Lindsay Foreman, from East Sussex, were arrested in Iran in January 2025 while riding a motorcycle on an around-the-world trip. Iranian authorities charged them with espionage. Both deny it. They were sentenced to ten years each, and a subsequent appeal failed.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office has called their detention “unjustified and appalling” and says securing their safe return remains a priority. British officials have visited the couple in prison and helped them stay in contact with their family. The UK Ambassador to Tehran and diplomats have been raising the case directly with Iranian authorities — though so far without result.

Tony Vaughan MP was among those who gathered outside the Foreign Office to demand continued pressure on Iran. He represents Joe Bennett — the couple’s son, who lives in Folkestone — in parliament. Which makes this, for Vaughan, rather more than a distant diplomatic matter.

The family has been pushing for stronger diplomatic pressure, consular access, welfare support and regular contact with Craig and Lindsay. On 5 August 2026, family members met Middle East Minister Stephen Doughty and Alistair Burt, the UK’s Envoy for Complex Consular Detentions, to press their case.

The FCDO says it continues to raise the matter with Iranian authorities. And there, for now, things stand.

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Kent MP joins call for detained British couple to be brought home Quiz

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Source: @sojanuk

Published: 21 October 2026