Iran accuses detained British couple of spying

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian authorities have accused a British couple detained in the country since January of spying, state media reported Tuesday.

Mizanonline.ir, a news website affiliated with the country’s judiciary, cited Asghar Jahangir, a spokesman for the judiciary as saying that the Revolutionary Guard’s intelligence forces incarcerated the couple, a man and a woman, while in the southern city of Kerman at the time.

They are accused of spying and having links to intelligence agencies of “hostile countries” and collecting information from several Iranian provinces, according to Jahangir who didn’t provide further details.

The report didn’t name the couple, however, a family statement released Saturday through the U.K. Foreign Office identified them as Craig and Lindsay Foreman, saying their situation was distressing and causing “significant concern.”

A spokesperson for the U.K.’s Foreign Office said Tuesday: “We are deeply concerned by reports that two British nationals have been charged with espionage in Iran. We continue to raise this case directly with the Iranian authorities.

“We are providing them with consular assistance and remain in close contact with their family members.”

The two were reportedly traveling around the world on motorbikes when they were detained in January. British media, citing social media posts, reported that they had crossed into Iran from Armenia on Dec. 30 and were planning to enter Pakistan next.

The British ambassador to Iran, Hugo Shorter, met the two in Kerman on Wednesday in the presence of officials from Iran’s justice department and the governor’s office.

Iran has a history of detaining and releasing western nationals on security charges. The country has long been accused of holding those with Western ties as prisoners to be used as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West. Iran denies those accusations.