'Everyone in this prison has had family killed or shot'

A British woman detained in Iran has given a stark account of her life behind bars.

Lindsay Foreman, from East Sussex, was detained by Iranian authorities in January 2025 while travelling the world with her husband Craig.

Foreman, who is currently being held in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison, said her "heart breaks" for the Iranian people.

Referring to the Iranian government's repeated violent crackdowns on protests, she said: "There is not one person in this prison who hasn't had a family member shot or killed."

Her comments come during the war between Iran and the US and Israel which broke out on 28 February.

"There isn't one person in this prison who hasn't had some part of their hometown destroyed [from the fighting]," she said.

'No escape'

Foreman said, although she and her fellow inmates cannot really see out of the prison, they can hear "the whistling noise of missiles and hum of drones".

She says that after some bombs, like bunker busters, the "ground shakes".

"You can feel the depth and you think… that must have done some serious damage".

"When the buildings shake, there is nowhere to go," Foreman continued.

"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 for everyone."

She said during the initial nightly US-Israeli strikes on the city the prisoners were "hiding under their beds".

"People were hyperventilating, screaming. It is shocking," she said.

Three rescue workers stand facing a pile of rubble. — Strikes by the US and Israel have caused widespread damage in Tehran (pictured) [Getty Images]

During a phone call with her son Joe Bennett, from Folkestone in Kent, Foreman said the prisoners she was with were "so resilient, so tenacious".

Ordinary Iranians have "an amazing culture of graceful kindness and absolute generosity", she said.

Foreman says the prison's daily menu of "rice and gristle" is "repeated every single week".

She said she had been able to buy basic goods, such as bread, flour and sugar, from a shop inside the facility, although it has been shut in recent days.

Foreman says she has started running round the prison's concrete courtyard, which makes a lap of 55 metres (180 ft).

"It's repetitive, but sometimes repetitive is good. You can sort of switch off a little bit."

She also spends her time studying psychology and Persian (Farsi), according to the family.

A man looks into the distance. He is wearing a black coat. The framing and content of the picture look sombre. — Lindsay Foreman's son Joe Bennett is campaigning for the couple's release [Getty Images]

Foreman said that on Wednesday for the first time in months she had met with her husband Craig, who is also imprisoned in Iran.

"We drank tea, we had a chat, and it was the best hour that you can have."

But she added the situation was "exhausting".

"There is no escape. So every day you wake up and think, I've got to get through another day."

The couple were detained in Iran on charges of espionage – something the family denies.

Brendan O'Hara, vice chair of the all-parliamentary group for arbitrary detention and hostage affairs, previously told the BBC the Foremans were "innocent victims of a geopolitical power struggle".

The Scottish National Party MP likened them to "bargaining chips" between Iran's government and the US, UK and Israel.

It is "absolutely outrageous" they have been detained, he added.

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