British woman jailed in Iran has ‘made peace’ with chance of dying amid bombing

A British woman jailed alongside her husband for 10 years in Iran for spying says she has come to accept she may die behind bars as bombs hit the country.

Speaking from prison, Lindsay Foreman told ITV News that the “whistling noise of missiles and the hum of the drones” could be heard close to where she and her partner Craig are being detained.

The 53-year-olds were jailed after being arrested in January last year while travelling through Iran on a round-the-world motorcycle trip.

The East Sussex couple are being held in Tehran’s Evin Prison on espionage charges which they deny.

Ms Foreman, in her first interview since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, said: “When the bombs were going off at night, in those first four nights, we were all hiding under the bed.

“So we were in metal-framed bunk beds and we would get into the bottom bunk. People were hyperventilating, screaming.

“The first day you could feel it, the impact of the bombs, the rockets, the missiles.”

Talking about prison conditions, Ms Foreman said: “When the buildings shake, there is nowhere to go. These buildings are not designed for safety.

“There’s no fire escape, there’s no access to the outside for us. If the building collapses, that will be the end.

“And sometimes just living it, just accepting it, just knowing that there is a chance of dying and making peace with that.”

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) warns all British and British-Iranian nationals not to travel to Iran because of a “significant risk of arrest, questioning or detention”.

A spokesperson previously described the jail sentences the pair received as “completely appalling and totally unjustifiable”, saying their welfare is a “priority” for the Government.

Ms Foreman said she empathises with the efforts of UK diplomats since they were detained.

She added: “Sometimes we just have to take responsibility for the situation we find ourselves in, that we create.

“I chose to come here. I’m not going to blame the [UK] Government for that.”