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‘My parents were taken hostage in Iran. I need to hear from them’

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Charlie Rose/BBC A man in a beige fleece stares solemnly into the cameraCharlie Rose/BBC

Joe Bennett has called on the prime minister to intervene directly

The son of a couple arrested in Iran has said it is “intolerable” that he has not been able to speak to his parents in more than 200 days.

Joe Bennett said the Foreign Office told him he could call Lindsay and Craig Foreman last week, but after a “sleepless night of anticipation” it did not happen.

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said they were “deeply concerned” by the case and continued to raise it directly with Iran’s government.

Mr and Ms Foreman were arrested by Iranian authorities in January while on a “once in a lifetime” trip around the world.

They have since been charged with espionage – something the family denies.

‘Vague reassurances’

Mr Bennett says the family has not spoken to his 52-year-old parents, who are from East Sussex, since they were arrested.

“We don’t know their condition, their state of mind, or even with certainty that they are alive.

“All we have had are vague reassurances through officials,” he added.

Family handout A man and woman smile widely. A swimming pool is visible behind them.Family handout

The husband and wife have been likened to “bargaining chips” between governments

Mr Bennett described the situation as unbearable and called directly on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy to intercede on their behalf.

“It is a weight no family should have to bear,” he said.

Scottish National Party MP Brendan O’Hara, vice-chair of the all-parliamentary group for arbitrary detention and hostage affairs (APPG), previously told the BBC the couple were “innocent victims of a geopolitical power struggle” between western states and Iran, likening them to “bargaining chips”.

He pointed to the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian national who was held hostage by the Iranian government for six years to pressure the UK to pay a long-standing, multi-million-pound debt.



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