Posted on 03/05/2026 7:21:06 AM PST by jonatron
More than five years after the high-profile detention of two Australian bloggers, another overland journey through Iran would end in far lengthier imprisonment. British nationals Craig Foreman and Lindsay Foreman, both in their 50s, entered Iran on December 30, 2024 during a round-the-world motorcycle expedition. They crossed from Armenia with valid tourist visas, an approved travel plan, and a licensed Iranian guide. Family members said the couple intended to transit the country en route to Pakistan before continuing toward Australia.
Their case followed an earlier incident that had already drawn international scrutiny. In July 2019, Australian travel bloggers Jolie King and Mark Firkin were arrested at gunpoint in Tehran province while documenting a long-distance overland trip in a Toyota Land Cruiser. Iranian authorities alleged that the pair had flown a drone near sensitive locations without authorization and suggested that espionage-related charges were being considered. King and Firkin were held for approximately three months before being released in October 2019 as part of a prisoner exchange, a case that underscored the potential risks facing independent travelers in politically sensitive regions.
On January 3, 2025, while traveling near the southeastern city of Kerman, Craig and Lindsay Foreman were detained by members of the infamous Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). No immediate explanation was provided at the time of arrest. In subsequent accounts relayed through family members, the Foremans said they were blindfolded, searched, and transported in an unmarked vehicle to an undisclosed location. They were placed in small cells and held separately without formal notification of the charges against them.
The couple later reported that they spent 56 days in solitary confinement. During that period, they were kept blindfolded for extended intervals and were not informed of the specific allegations underlying their detention.
(Excerpt) Read more at expeditionportal.com ...
They essentially volunteered to be hostages. Anyone who doesn’t understand the risk of a westerner traveling to Iran has to have been living in a cave for the last few decades.
Yes they’re timing might actually be very fortunate but we shall see. Being in a war zone has its own risks.
If the live through it, what a great memory!
No sympathy for stupid.
Agreed.
Looks like they are starting to bomb all the police stations right now. If they are in the jail they might just get blown up.
Almost all the police stations have been blown up.
We - US & Israel - know exactly where Evin is, and wouldn’t hit it. They did hit a building very close by a day or 2 ago.
My fear is that the regime will set Evin on fire with everyone inside.
Now that the Syrian conflict has entered a dormant stage, Kurdistan is about as safe a place as one can be as a westener in the middle east, probably rivaling Egypt and Jordan. Iran and Iraq and the Turks are unable to admit the Kurds have defector control of both the streets and the provinces. As the kurds do not collect arms in one place, tending to keeping the mechanized part of of a platoon in 50 barns spread about 10 square miles, they are not a missle or drone target of any importance to the ISIS leftovers, the Califate, or the Iran regium. In 2023 the region was x5 time hotter than it is today, by 2030 it will be the stable bit between Iran, Iraq, Jordan that is excelent for overlanders and hikers.
Kurds are a real government, a real nation, a real community parked between states that have shown nothing but insanity for decades.
Sounds like ineffective kidnapping and ransom seeking.
On January 3, 2025, while traveling near the southeastern city of Kerman, Craig and Lindsay Foreman were detained by members of the infamous Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). No immediate explanation was provided at the time of arrest. In subsequent accounts relayed through family members, the Foremans said they were blindfolded, searched, and transported in an unmarked vehicle to an undisclosed location. They were placed in small cells and held separately without formal notification of the charges against them.
That’s good. Last time I was in Erbil, it was nothing like that but better than Baghdad.
An adventure is what happens when you fail to plan.
-10
A -10 score?
Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a joke where the punchline is “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
😀
Indeed!
And I certainly wouldn’t ride in Iran.
I’b be afraid my burkha would get tangled up in the chain! 😁
Indeed.
It’s a nightmare!
Dress for the slide not for the ride.
Actually any bad actor might be a little leery of some complacent old babe on a Harley…
You, sir, have posted the hopes of liberation I was hoping to see. God bless you.
A lot of parents simple point to their spouse.
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