Detained Britons charged with espionage in Iran

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c743jle3vkno

by PM_THE_REAPER

29 comments

  1. We really should have a ‘no ransom; no release’ policy with Iran

    These people should be left there. They’re not worth whatever we are about to pay to get them back.

  2. Terrible news for their them and their families. They are probably looking at years in jail and separated.

    Why on earth these misguided ‘The world is full of love’ people risk going to these hell holes only to end up in prisons, kidnapped or killed.

    I pray the foreign office steps up it’s game and gets them released soon.

  3. Darwin award winners.

    How anyone can think going to Iran is even vaguely a good idea is beyond me.

  5. What did they expect going to Iran? Did they think they would be welcomed with open arms. Invited to Tehran’s finest bars and nightclubs perhaps?

  6. > FCDO advises against all travel to Iran

    > FCDO advises against all travel to Iran. British and British-Iranian dual nationals are at significant risk of arrest, questioning or detention. Having a British passport or connections to the UK can be reason enough for the Iranian authorities to detain you.

    > UK government support is extremely limited in Iran. Assume that no face-to-face consular assistance will be possible in an emergency and the UK government will not be able to help you if you get into difficulty in Iran.

    Fucking ludicrous – ditzy, rose tinted viewing, fools convinced they’re right, and everybody else is wrong. And now we get to pick up their tab.

  7. Absolutely no sympathy for them. You go visit a hostile country, expect to be treated with hostility.

  8. /sigh. Amazing now the family are releasing their names to put pressure on the Gov.

    Anything we have to pay to get these out should be billed to them. As it’s going to cost millions.

    It’s their own fault. And are adults. Sorry. Your fault

  9. Interesting that nobody even considers that perhaps they are actually spies.

  10. These pair seem very dim. I get that motorbiking across the world is a once in a lifetime prospect but they literally posted on social media bragging that they were going to ignore official travel advice to head across Iran.

    Obviously they don’t deserve what has happened to them but it’s so self inflicted and shortsighted

  11. ‘Mrs Foreman was said to be carrying out a research project as part of the journey, asking people what constitutes a “good life”.

    She was due to present her findings at a conference on positive psychology in Brisbane in July, the BBC reported.’

    I suspect this is what has caused them to be targeted. If they were actually conducting this ‘research’ in Iran and didn’t declare this when getting a visa, its extremely foolish.

  12. Terrible for them and their families but taxpayer money shouldn’t be spent on helping people going to places that the FCO advise against travelling to for their jollies.

  13. That’s wild. Everything they have written on their social media is all good vibes/we are one world airy fairy nonsense. They’re airheads, they’re not facking spies.

  14. It’s Iran, just stay away. It’s their own responsibility to protect themselves, the necessary information is available to everyone who wants it. Where to next, Afghanistan?

  15. When us Iranians asked the West, including the UK, to proscribe the IRGC and support us in overthrowing this authoritarian regime, it fell on deaf ears. Keep appeasing this regime, and no one will be safe.

  16. Rather than waste our taxes, we should leave them there as a solemn warning against going against travel advice.

  17. Mr and Mrs Foreman were heading for Australia on their journey across the globe and had crossed into Iran from Armenia on 30 December and were planning to be in Pakistan by 4 January.

    It’s like they were trying to do a kidnapping speedrun

  18. Travel tip; if your government warns you not to go to an area….

  19. I just don’t understand unless of necessity anyone would go there .

  20. Oh well. Not as if they weren’t warned. Anyway, here’s Dave with the sport….. Dave….

  21. I don’t understand why some people have an attitude that risk doesn’t apply to them. “I don’t think it should be dangerous therefore it isn’t dangerous for me :)”

  22. UK, US, and Canadian passport holders are not allowed to travel independently in Iran….how were they able to cross the border to do this type of independent travel? They must be accompanied by an Iranian government approved guide at all times in Iran.

    And if they work for any type of media: Iran unfortunately views people from such occupations with suspicion.

  23. Espionage ? Like spy shit?

    So 2 “bike loving people drove to Iran” AKA SPY SHIT ?

  24. Couple told not to go to place because there’s a very good chance they’ll be used as pawns in a political game, and then act surprised when it happens.

  25. I brought this story up at dinner and my dad casually mentioned he also got arrested in Iran in 1986 for currency smuggling 😂

  26. Honestly I would rather go to Uzbekistan or Tajikistan if I wanted the Iranian vibe. Both places that the government doesn’t warn you off completely against going to.

  27. “Judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir said that the couple, both aged 52, had “entered Iran under the guise of tourists” and “gathered information in multiple provinces of the country”.”

    I mean, they were vlogging their journey, is it surprising they were filming themselves and their surroundings as they travelled through the country.

  28. From 2014 to 2023, the UK provided £252.5 million in humanitarian support and over £103 million in stabilisation funding to Iraq

    In 2023, the UK announced a new aid package to help Iraq rebuild infrastructure and boost its economy

    The UK also supported Iraq’s economic reform program through a £300 million loan guarantee as part of a coordinated package with international partners

    If Iraq says they are spies, they most likely are.

  29. Zero sympathy when British tourists or expats get arrested while visiting hostile countries which are known to take political prisoners to use as a bargaining chip.

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