Lindsay Foreman, who is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence in Iran alongside her husband Craig Foreman, has emotionally expressed her hopes of returning home.

The British couple, hailing from East Sussex, have endured over 14 months of detention on espionage charges, which they deny, and are being held in Tehran’s Evin prison.

Both in their 50s, the duo were embarking on a global motorcycle journey when they were arrested in January last year. They had entered Iran from Armenia on December 30, planning to traverse the country on their way to Australia.

They were journeying as tourists with valid visas, an authorised itinerary and a guide, though ignored advice about travelling to the country by The Foreign Office. According to Lindsay’s friend, Naomi Connell from The Independent, thousands of others had entered and exited the country without any issues at that time.

Reflecting on their choice, mother-of-two Lindsay told her: “We did not imagine that this trip of a lifetime could turn into being captured at gunpoint and held in solitary confinement.”

While adjusting to severe conditions in prison, the Brit said the most challenging aspect of her detention is being separated from her loved ones back home.

“Knowing they’re out there and not being able to hug them – that’s the hardest thing. Thank you for not forgetting us,” she expressed. “I just can’t wait to come home.”

In a statement earlier this month, the couple’s family said they remain profoundly concerned about their welfare. Their worries have heightened following explosions near Evin prison amid intensifying conflict in the region.

After speaking with Lindsay and Craig, relatives said the pair had heard “lots of explosions” nearby, with blasts reportedly powerful enough to damage sections of the prison.

Anxiety increased after guards reportedly fled the prison out of fears they could be caught in a US strike.

Their son, Joe Bennett, told Reuters: “My parents are living under a ‘drone of drones’, the constant, maddening buzz of hundreds of machines in the sky.”

He added that they are being held in severe conditions, which includes being surrounded by “rats and cockroaches, sleeping on metal bunks without mattresses [and] in a state of constant physical pain”.

He has called on UK and US officials to prioritise efforts to secure the release of foreign nationals.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has previously described the couple’s sentencing as “totally unjustifiable” and said the government would “pursue this case relentlessly” until they are safely returned to the UK.

Speaking this week, Joe claimed Yvette offered only “delay ⁠and uncertainty” during a meeting he held with her this week. A spokesperson for the foreign ministry stated in an emailed comment that the welfare of British nationals detained in Iran was a priority “for this government and ⁠continued to be during the current situation in the Middle East”.