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British couple on new hunger strike in Iranian jail, family say

Caroline Hawley,Diplomatic correspondentand
Harry Sekulich
Facebook/ drlindsayforeman Selfie showing Lindsay and Craig Foreman outside a mosaic building.Facebook/ drlindsayforeman
Craig and Lindsay Foreman were sentenced to 10 years in Tehran's Evin prison

The family of a British couple held in Iran after being accused of spying say the pair have gone on hunger strike to press for their release.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman, from East Sussex, were arrested in January of last year while passing through Iran on a global motorbike journey.

The couple were sentenced in February to 10 years in jail on espionage charges, which they deny.

The Foreign Office says it will keep working to get them safely back to the UK, calling their incarceration appalling and unjustified.

Craig Foreman is believed to be 12 days into a hunger strike, which he began after the couple's phone access was cut off in early May.

Other sources have confirmed to the family that Lindsay Foreman, 53, had paused a hunger strike after being told she would be able to contact her family, but had since resumed.

Lindsay's son Joe Bennett described their food refusal as a "medical emergency in the making".

He added: "I understand British politics is in an extraordinary moment. But my mum and Craig cannot wait for Westminster to resolve its own crisis.

"Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper must act personally and immediately. This cannot be delayed. This cannot be deprioritised. Two lives are at stake."

Before their phone access was cut off, the couple had spoken to the BBC from Iran's notorious Evin prison where they conceded they would probably be there "for a long time".

"I just feel that we're wasting our lives in here and rotting away," Craig said. "We are innocent people. We have committed no offence."

Members of the adventure motorbike community rode from Kensington Palace to Parliament Square on Wednesday to mark 500 days since the couple were first detained.

PA Media An image of Craig and Lindsey Foreman smiling, taped to the front of a large, red motorcycle. Several people and other motorbikes can be seen in the background, at what appears to be Parliament Square in London.PA Media
Motorcyclists demonstrated in London to mark 500 days since the couple were first detained

Supporters, including MPs, relatives and friends, have delivered a petition to Downing Street calling for "urgent action" to return Lindsay and Craig Foreman to the UK.

Tony Vaughan, the MP for Folkestone and Hythe, urged the government to recognise the pair as "political hostages" and said that he felt there was "more the government could do".

In an address to Parliament in April, Foreign Office Minister Hamish Falconer described the pair as "innocent tourists" and called their case an "injustice".

A group of people stood outside the black door of 10 Downing Street. Joe Bennett, in the centre, is carrying a yellow and blue box.
A petition was handed in at 10 Downing Street on Wednesday

Speaking outside Downing Street on Wednesday, Bennett told the BBC that a hunger strike of his own was "on the cards".

"We've got to do everything we can to support what sacrifices they're making," he said.

"It's that kind of thing, unfortunately, that brings the attention that's needed."