THE son of a British couple who are being held at the notorious Evin prison in Tehran has expressed his fears for their safety.

Joe Bennett told GB News that Lindsay and Craig Foreman were on a round-the-world motorcycle trip when they were seized and jailed for ten years after being convicted of espionage.

He said: “It was, as you say, a difficult time anyway, before this happened. You’ve got now the added complexity of war and what that brings you.

“We are genuinely scared, we were before, but we are now generally worried for their life because of what’s going on, and the implications of the actions that have been taken by the US and Israel.

“They’re held in Evin in prison separately with other political prisoners. You’ve got German nationals, Romanians, Nigerians, there’s a lot of nationalities in there. And my mum’s held with the Iranian women, who are mostly protesters, to be honest, they’ve seen a big influx, as you can imagine from when that happened, but it’s a very tense time.

“I was on the phone to my mum last week when the bombs started to hit, and I’ve never heard panic like it. The phone line cut out, and for the three, four hours in between the next call, I was completely numb. I couldn’t move.

“It’s one thing that we are eternally grateful for at the moment, because they are able to call direct from the prison for, and I have to admit, it’s the one good thing over the last 15 months that the government have put in place.

“There’s not much else that I can give a positive outlook on, but that is one of them, because it’s massive for us at the moment, as a family, to be able to hear their voices.”

Asked about what led to their arrest, Joe said: ‘Wrong place, wrong time, is the only thing that we can account this to.

“Every legislation that had to be adhered to was, guides, visas, main hotels. They’d gone off the advice of people that had done the same journey before. There was no reason for them to be arrested other than they’re UK nationals.

“Comparatively to other people, they’re being treated okay, but they’re still facing very difficult times. They don’t get much nutrition. They eat rice and gristle every day, they’re manoeuvred into walls. It’s rough treatment.”

On the conditions inside the prison, he said: “Showers are, if working, are cold, change of clothes, not really. It’s unsanitary to say the least. Craig says there’s four holes in the ground for 180 men. You have to buy toilet roll and things from the shop, which is not always replenished.

“It’s pretty horrendous conditions. I couldn’t do it justice. They’re held together with about 18 people in each cell. These are metal bunk beds with no mattresses. It’s just a frame, it is rough. There’s people on the floor. There’s people in the hallways.

“It’s at capacity, and above and beyond now, because of what’s happened. The only good thing that has come from the government, in my eyes, is this phone call. We haven’t seen, even though they’ve withdrawn embassy staff from Tehran, we’ve not seen any contingency plans.

“What should they do? Should the prison fall? Should the regime fall? Where do they go? What do they do? The only advice they’ve been given is to do a risk assessment on the ground, if that comes. That’s just mental.”

He added: “Hamish Faulkner has invited the Iranian Ambassador. But again, if it’s to have the same conversations, those conversations haven’t worked for the last 15 months, there has to be a change.

“With the new Ayatollah that’s been announced, if Keir Starmer had some cojones and a bit of a backbone, he’d be on the phone to him say, ‘Look, why don’t you try and do some good, you’ve taken over, release the prisoners. Let’s start, draw a line in the sand’.”