Iran charges British couple with espionage, upping ante with West

Iran charged a British couple on a road trip with espionage, Iran’s judiciary said on Tuesday, in the latest detention of Western citizens by Tehran as a diplomatic standoff over its nuclear program deepens.

“These individuals were cooperating with front organizations linked to intelligence services of hostile Western countries,” Mizan news agency quoted judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir as saying.

The United Kingdom is one of three European countries involved in ongoing talks with Tehran over its disputed nuclear program. Another, France, has protested Iran's continued detention of three of its nationals.

Iran said on Tuesday it seeks to more talks with Europe, according to foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, even as the prospect for negotiations with the United States dimmed.

"These individuals were arrested in January of this year on charges of espionage," Jahangir said. "The individuals arrested entered Iran under the guise of tourists and, under the guise of research and investigation work, have collected information in several provinces of the country."

British Ambassador Hugo Shorter met with the detainees at Kerman’s public and revolutionary prosecutor’s office, Mizan's report added, citing local judiciary head Ebrahim Hamidi.

“The meeting took place at the request of the British ambassador and with the approval of judicial and security officials,” Mizan quoted Hamidi as saying.

The detainees' family, in a statement on Saturday released by the British Foreign Office, named them as Craig and Lindsay Foreman.

“This unexpected turn of events has caused significant concern for our entire family, and we are deeply focused on ensuring their safety and wellbeing during this trying time,” they said.

The couple in their early 50s had been on a motorbike trip across the world and had only planned on being in Iran for five days. They were due to end their trip in Australia and had crossed into Iran from Armenia on December 30, according to their social media posts.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of foreigners and dual nationals in recent years, predominantly on espionage and security-related charges.

Human rights groups and several Western nations have accused Iran of using arrests to extract concessions from other countries, though Tehran has consistently denied that the detentions are politically motivated.

Iran is involved in ongoing negotiations with the so-called E3 European countries - Britain, France and Germany - who were signatories of a now largely defunct 2015 international deal over Iran's nuclear program.

Tehran denies seeking a bomb but Western powers remain skeptical of its intentions.

US President Donald Trump has vowed to deny Iran a nuclear weapon and his secretary of state Marco Rubio said Washington will urge its European allies to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran.