The son of a British couple detained in Iran has stated that his dad and mom have been crammed into cells with protesters and provided no clear plan for his or her launch after the embassy closed abruptly over fears of an imminent US assault.
Lindsay and Craig Foreman have been arrested whereas travelling in Iran final January and subsequently charged with espionage, which they deny. They are at the moment being held at Tehran’s notorious Evin jail.
Ms Foreman’s son, Joe Bennett, stated they’re residing in “hell on repeat”, with cells “overcrowded” due to Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests.
“It’s beyond imagination,” he advised The Independent. “They wake up with rats in their beds. They’ve got rats in the kitchen. It sounds like hell on earth.”
“More have been piled into the rooms so there’s not as much space,” he stated, including that his mom is “not leaving her bed at the moment because there’s just either no room or she doesn’t feel up to it”.
Mr Bennett, from Folkestone in Kent, stated that he has been capable of name his mom because the demonstrations broke out, and worries that it’s turning into a “more dangerous situation”.
“It’s just a constant worry. You hang up the phone and your anxiety goes through the roof because you just don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“There are fights daily and quite explosive ones that I’ve heard when on the phone to her, which must be absolutely petrifying because you not only don’t want to be dragged into it, you don’t know what they’re fighting over. It’s alien.”
He worries that the closure of the embassy has left them with no clear plan for what to do if they’re launched. He stated the Foreign Office advised him they have been “assessing the situation”.
“There’s a huge possibility that something could happen,” he emphasised. “Something could happen at any point.”
He stated he has advised his dad and mom, “Just make sure the plan at the moment doesn’t include going to the British Embassy, because they’re not there.”
The ambassador and consular workers have been eliminated on Wednesday following a safety evaluation as Donald Trump threatened Iran with navy motion.
Mr Bennett stated that he was advised that the British authorities would attempt to organise distant consular help whereas the embassy is closed.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” he stated. “You can’t provide consular assistance remotely because you can’t go to check their welfare. And there’s no internet. So I don’t quite understand what that means.
“It just baffles me. If you’re not there, you need to give them something to do in that scenario.”
Iran imposed a nationwide web blackout on 8 January as protests in opposition to the federal government intensified. It relaxed a few of the restrictions earlier this week by permitting cell phone calls in a foreign country, however not in.
Mr Bennett has been capable of attain Mr and Ms Foreman in jail since their November starvation strike and has been making an attempt to “share information with them so that they are better informed” as he campaigns for his or her launch.
“What upsets me is that they’re having to live through that and I feel powerless. That’s the one thing I hate, is that I feel powerless,” he stated.
He recognised that whereas he can clear his head and go for a stroll or see his mates or household, “they can’t do any of that”.
“They just live in hell on repeat. It must be torture.”
He stated: “We’re a bit stuck and you try to turn to the people who you think could make a difference and it feels like there’s no solidarity.”
“It feels like we’re trying to convince them to do the right thing. If your quiet diplomacy hasn’t worked, publicly defend them. We haven’t heard our own prime minister whisper their names once. And I think that’s scandalous.
“We’re a year on, and yet there’s this tendency not to rock a capsized boat. It doesn’t make any sense.”
An FCDO spokesperson advised The Independent: “We stay deeply involved that Craig and Lindsay Foreman have been charged with espionage in Iran. We proceed to lift this case instantly with the Iranian authorities.
“We continue to provide Craig and Lindsay with consular assistance and remain in close contact with their family members.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/british-couple-foremans-iran-protests-b2901770.html