Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has condemned their sentence as "completely appalling and totally unjustifiable".

"We will pursue this case relentlessly with the Iranian government until we see Craig and Lindsay Foreman safely returned to the UK and reunited with their family," she said.

The couple were arrested in January 2025 while travelling through the country on an around-the-world motorcycle journey and detained on charges of espionage.

The Foremans, from East Sussex, who are being held in Tehran's Evin prison, deny the allegations.

The couple's family says the sentence places the case "in line with the most severe politically motivated detentions of UK nationals in Iran".

Joe Bennett, Lindsay Foreman's son, said that the couple has been "sentenced to 10 years following a trial that lasted just three hours and in which they were not allowed to present a defence".

"They have consistently denied the allegations. We have seen no evidence to support the charge of espionage," he added.

The sentence follows a court appearance on 27 October 2025 before Judge Abolghasem Salavati at Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran.

Judge Salavati has previously been sanctioned by the UK, US and EU in connection with human rights violations and the conduct of trials criticised internationally for lack of due process.

Ahead of his sentencing, Mr Foreman described being held in an "eight-foot cell with a hole in the floor and a sink" and described the effects of 57 days in solitary confinement, saying: "Emotionally and physically, it broke me to pieces".

He said once a month meetings with his wife are what sustain him.

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Mr Bennett said the couple had "already spent more than thirteen months in detention". "We are deeply concerned about their welfare and about the lack of transparency in the judicial process," he added.

He called on the UK Government to "act decisively and use every available avenue to secure their release".

The Foreign Office is currently warning people not to travel to Iran, because of "the significant risk of arrest questioning or detention". It warns that: "The UK government will not be able to help you if you get into difficulty in Iran."

Iran has arrested dozens of foreign visitors and dual nationals in recent years, mostly on espionage and security-related charges.

Human rights groups and some Western countries have accused Iran of trying to win concessions from other nations through arrests on trumped up charges.

British-Iranian dual nationals like Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori are among those who have spent years behind bars in Iran before diplomatic negotiations helped secure their release.

The sentencing of the Foremans comes amid heightened tensions in the region following a deadly crackdown on a wave of demonstrations in Iran.

Donald Trump last month urged Iranian protesters - thousands of whom have been killed by the regime's forces - to keep demonstrating and promised that "help is on the way".

A powerful US military force continues to assemble within striking distance of Iran.

Posting on Truth Social, Donald Trump implored Sir Keir Starmer to scrap the deal, saying: "DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!"

In his long post online, the US president claimed the prime minister is "losing control" of the military base in the Indian Ocean, and that the deal would be "a blight" on the UK.

It came just a day after the US government released a statement in which it said it "supports the decision of the United Kingdom to proceed with its agreement with Mauritius concerning the Chagos archipelago".

Number 10 and the Foreign Office will be asking itself what has changed in the space of 24 hours.

UK government backs 'crucial' deal

Pushing back on Trump's latest change of heart, a Foreign Office spokesperson said: "The deal to secure the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia military is crucial to the security of the UK and our key allies, and to keeping the British people safe.

"The agreement we have reached is the only way to guarantee the long-term future of this vital military base."

So what now?

The government clearly did not see this latest Trump intervention coming, but leaders are often judged not by the events that happen on their watch but how they deal with such events.

Interestingly, only last night Starmer and Trump held a bilateral phone call - but when Number 10 released a readout of that meeting, there was no mention of the Chagos deal.

'Utter humiliation'

Opposition parties on the right are celebrating Trump's comments as a win for their campaigning.

Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel called this "an utter humiliation" for the prime minister, arguing the deal is undermining the UK's relationship with the US and must be junked.

And the Tory leader Kemi Badenoch mirrored previous comments made last month by the US president, calling the deal an "act of stupidity" and self-sabotage.

Reform UK's leader Nigel Farage claims the deal negotiated by the government risks alienating the US and has also called for the deal to be scrapped.

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Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey used the fallout as an opportunity to continue his attacks on Trump, insisting the US is no longer an ally the UK can rely on, and we must cosy up to our neighbours in Europe.

Rather awkwardly the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, is in the US this week and will be having meetings with Trump's top team in Washington DC.

Despite being blindsided by the persistent flip-flopping of the US administration's position on the Chagos deal, it could be a fortuitous opportunity to plead the UK government's case directly to her counterpart Marco Rubio.

The Conservatives and Reform will be hoping Trump's latest intervention may be able to push the prime minister into rethinking this deal, or at least cause him enough political difficulty that the deal is ratified under a dark cloud.

Starmer will need to bring the US president back from the brink, or we could be seeing U-turn number 16 from Labour.

And perhaps that's the point. In places like these, elections are rarely theatrical.

They are quieter, more incremental, the odd conversation among friends who might pass each other in the street. But that doesn't mean feelings don't run deep.

In the past, this by-election would have been a dead cert for Labour. In reality, the mood on the ground suggests something more unsettled. Something subtler and potentially more significant: fragmentation.

Things got off to an interesting start when Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham was blocked from standing as Labour's candidate here.

As one of the most recognisable figures in Greater Manchester - and consistently more personally popular than Sir Keir Starmer in national polling - Burnham would likely have started as favourite.

His exclusion fuelled talk that Labour's leadership was wary of giving him a Westminster platform that could lead ultimately to a leadership challenge.

At the same time, Reform's candidate has been publicly endorsed by Tommy Robinson - a backing the party has sought to distance itself from.

Reform curious…

At the busy indoor market in Gorton, former Labour voter Theresa Jewell is blunt about why she has switched.

"I don't like Labour, and it's Keir Starmer I don't like," she says. "He was the reason I wouldn't vote for Labour."

She now plans to back Reform.

"I don't think there's really anybody else that I trust." For her, the move is personal rather than ideological - a judgement about leadership and direction.

…or going Green?

A few stalls away, Chenise says she would previously have been "more likely to vote Labour", but she now feels politically displaced.

"As a woman, as a woman of colour, I feel like I'm under threat by Reform," she says.

"It's like they want to go backwards." Instead, she is considering the Greens.

Her frustration with Labour is not that the government has been too radical, but that it appears to be edging toward what she sees as Reform's language.

"Their policies seem to now be more reflective of what Reform is, what the Conservatives are," she argues.

"I don't think it reflects what working-class people want right now - and even what Labour should have stood for."

Between those two poles sits another perspective. Atif, who owns a sweet shop and bakery in Longsight, says most Asian voters he knows "are on the Labour side, mostly", but he is now "thinking Green".

He describes himself as "sick, tired of the Labour policies". His frustration is less cultural than practical - about pressure on local services like doctors and dentists.

And then there is Jason, another former Labour voter who says he is "absolutely voting Reform." His reasoning is direct: "It's the cost of living, it is immigration… you've just got to sit down and think which is best."

For him, Reform represents disruption and clarity in a crowded political landscape.

A coalition under strain

What is striking is not that Labour is losing voters - governing parties often do in mid-term contests. It is that the losses appear to be fragmenting.

Reform attract those who want sharper rhetoric and disruption. The Greens attract those who feel Labour have diluted their values. Others express fatigue rather than fury.

This is not a single ideological realignment; it is a coalition under strain.

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The geography reinforces the divide. The Manchester half of the seat is younger and more diverse, with significant Muslim communities and a history of strong Labour majorities.

Denton, by contrast, is older, more white, and more owner-occupied - closer in character to the towns where Reform have been polling strongly.

Cross the motorway and the political temperature changes.

In Denton, the language of fairness and neglect comes more readily. And even the infrastructure feels symbolic. Denton station runs two trains a week - one in each direction, on a Saturday morning.

There are long-term proposals to integrate the line into Greater Manchester's expanding tram network, but for now the image is stark: a town six miles from Manchester city centre that can feel further away.

That sense of proximity without connection feeds a broader narrative - one Reform seek to harness and Labour seek to counter. But whether frustration coalesces into a decisive swing remains unclear.

This by-election will not alter the parliamentary arithmetic. But it may reveal something about the arithmetic of allegiance. Labour's vote here does not appear to be collapsing in a single direction.

Instead, it looks thinner, more conditional, more open to persuasion - or protest.

In Gorton and Denton, political loyalty is no longer automatic. It is negotiated. And that makes this contest more revealing than its size suggests.

Here is the full list of candidates standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election:

Angeliki Stogia, Labour Party
Charlotte Cadden, The Conservative Party
Matt Goodwin, Reform UK
Jackie Pearcey, Liberal Democrats
Hannah Spencer, Green Party
Sebastian Moore, Social Democratic Party
Joseph O'Meachair, The Rejoin EU Party
Dan Clarke, Libertarian Party
Hugo Wils, Communist League
Sir Oink A-lot, The Official Monster Raving Loony Party
Nick Buckley, Advance UK

The by-election takes place next Thursday, 26 February.

But at that time, there was almost no US military presence that would have made a difference in the region.

On 22 January, he spoke of a "great armada" assembling, what he was referring to was the aircraft carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln and its carrier strike group.

None of it matched his rhetoric. But by this weekend it will have done so, as a powerful US military force assembles within striking distance of Iran. It has three main elements.

A posture built for more than a signal

First is the naval force. The Lincoln and its strike group will shortly be joined by the USS Gerald Ford, and its strike group. The Ford is passing through the Gibraltar Strait in the next 24 hours and can be expected to be on station south of Cyprus in about four days, travelling at normal cruising speed.

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Two Nimitz-class carriers will be bringing extra air defence and Tomahawk-carrying destroyers with them, bringing the number of known and named US destroyers in the region to 11. They will join three Littoral Combat Ships already on station and a good number of support ships as well. In addition, each CSG includes, though never usually named, a nuclear attack submarine, probably of the Virginia class.

And there may also be an Ohio-class SSN in the area, which is specifically designed to launch Tomahawk and other missiles at land targets.

A shield against retaliation

The second element has been provided over the previous 10 days by an extensive series of C-5 and C-17, Galaxy and Globemaster flights in and out of the region bringing air defence assets to US bases. Presumably as cover in the event of any Iranian retaliation in response to potential US attacks. Israeli 'Iron Dome' air defence batteries have also been moved from its frontier with Gaza to its borders in the east, probably for the same reason.

Aerial refuelling

And thirdly, the US has sent an extensive force of KC-135 air-to-air refuelling tankers to bolster its existing air tanker force. They left from the British base at Mildenhall (six tankers on 16 February) to Greece, and (on 18 February) no fewer than 10 more came from bases in the continental United States, via Britain, to bases in Greece and Bulgaria.

In addition, US aircraft are known to be in the British base at Akrotiri in Cyprus, at Aviano in Italy, in the Azores, in Spain and at the Chagos Island base of Diego Garcia. Well over 100 US combat aircraft - F-15s, F18s, F-22s, F35s and B2 bombers - are now available to US military planners in the potential theatre of operations.

But the extra KC-135 tankers are the giveaway. They give away the possibility that US aircraft might be operating from bases not sited on the territories of America's Middle East allies, but from less politically sensitive bases further away. And they give away the possibility that any air campaign might be quite prolonged, not just a sudden one-off attack.

The final piece of the jigsaw: no fewer than six E3 Sentry aircraft. These flying control centres can survey and control everything that happens beneath them. They are in effect flying HQs and a country can run a war from one of them. By the weekend, there will be a lot for these six E3 Sentry aircraft to look at and control.

What all this military power will be used for is still a matter of some speculation.

What the tracking data reveals about the build up

By Freya Gibson, junior OSINT producer

Sky News Data & Forensics team has tracked the movements of US military planes and ships heading to the region in recent days and weeks.

Several US Navy boats have been visible in the Middle East region, including the USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that carries 90 aircraft, including F35 fighters, and 5,680 crew. The Lincoln is leading a carrier strike group which includes three destroyers.

The ship was last seen on the 15 January in the Arabian Sea around 240km off the coast of Oman.

In addition, the USS Gerald R Ford, the lead ship of the US Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, is en route. Sky News has confirmed its latest location as tracking shows the Ford was around 600km from the Strait of Gibraltar at 1.58pm on 18 January.

This aircraft carrier, like the USS Abraham Lincoln, also forms a carrier strike group that includes three destroyers. In total, there are reported to be more than 12 US ships now in the Middle East.

Sky News has also tracked movements of US aircraft in the region. More than 15 refuelling tankers have repositioned towards the Middle East and Europe since 16 January.

These aircraft, the K-135s, are aerial refuelling aircraft. They can carry up to 200,000 pounds of fuel and 83,000 pounds of cargo. They have four engines and operate at speeds up to 530mph and altitudes up to 50,000 feet. 

The aircraft came from multiple locations, including RAF Mildenhall in the UK, Tampa in Florida and Sioux City in Iowa. They have been landing in different locations, including Chania Airport in Greece and Sofia Airport in Bulgaria.

Satellite imagery shows F-15s and A-10 Thunderbolts at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan. They can conduct precision airstrikes and engage armoured targets, alongside C-130 transport aircraft providing logistical support.

What is Iran doing?

Sky News has tracked the positions of Iranian Navy vessels using data from TankerTrackers. Around six vessels can be seen just off the coast of Bandar Abbas on 16 January. One of these ships is an Iranian Drone Carrier, IRIS Shahid Bagheri. Satellite imagery confirmed its location on 16 January, 10km from the coast.

It is often spotted around this location in the Strait of Hormuz. It can deploy roughly 60 drones along with helicopters.

Yoon was found guilty of abuse of authority and masterminding an insurrection, stemming from his mobilisation of military and police forces in an illegal attempt to seize the liberal-led National Assembly in December 2024, in a case that meant he also faced the death penalty.

The 65-year-old staunch conservative had defended his decree as necessary to stop liberals, whom he described as "anti-state" forces, from obstructing his agenda with their legislative majority.

The emergency rule triggered a national political crisis.

It lasted for around six hours before being lifted after politicians managed to break through a blockade by hundreds of heavily-armed troops and police and unanimously voted to lift the measure.

Prosecutors sought the death penalty in January, saying "his unconstitutional and ‌illegal emergency martial law undermined the function of the National Assembly and the Election Commission... actually destroying the liberal democratic constitutional order."

South Korea has not executed anyone since 1997 - a move widely seen as a de facto moratorium on capital punishment.

The court also convicted and sentenced several former military and police officials involved in enforcing the martial law decree.

Former defence minister Kim Yong Hyun received a 30-year jail term for his central role in planning the measure and mobilising the military.

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Yoon was sentenced last month to five years in prison for resisting arrest, fabricating the martial law proclamation and sidestepping a legally mandated full cabinet meeting before he declared martial law.

The Seoul Central Court has also convicted two of Yoon's cabinet members in other cases, including former prime minister Han Duck-soo, who received a 23-year prison sentence for attempting to legitimise the decree by forcing it through a cabinet council meeting, falsifying records and lying under oath. He has appealed the verdict.