British couple on hunger strike in Iran after espionage conviction

The family of a British couple held in Iran on espionage charges say the pair have gone on hunger strike to press for their release.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman, from East Sussex, were arrested in January last year while passing through Iran on a global motorbike journey. They were sentenced in February to 10 years in jail on spying 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 said British politics was in an extraordinary moment, but his mother and Craig could not wait for Westminster to resolve its own crisis.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper must act personally and immediately, he added. This cannot be delayed or deprioritised, and two lives are at stake.

Before their phone access was cut off, the couple had spoken to the BBC from Iran's Evin prison, where they said they would probably be there for a long time. Craig said he felt they were wasting their lives and rotting away. They were innocent people who had committed no offence, he said.

Members of the adventure motorbike community are expected to ride from Kensington Palace to Parliament Square on Wednesday to mark 500 days since the couple were first detained. Supporters, including MPs, relatives and friends, are also planning to deliver a petition to Downing Street calling for urgent action to return Lindsay and Craig Foreman to the UK.