No regular contact with couple held in Iran, family say

Joe Bennett, Lindsay’s son, said: “I understand perfectly well that the British government cannot simply tell the Iranian authorities what to do. I have never expected that.

“What I do expect is for our government to stand up for its citizens, to challenge what is happening and to keep pushing when commitments are made and then not honoured.

“Mum and Craig brought their hunger strikes to an end believing things would improve. Regular calls were supposed to be part of that.

“Instead, we are once again in a position where we are waiting, trying to understand what is happening from a distance and being given another date further down the road. That cannot just become normal.”

Bennett, who is from Folkestone, in Kent, says he wants a meeting with Miliband to understand what is being done to bring the couple back to Britain.

“After everything Mum and Craig have been through, it is reasonable for us to ask whether every possible avenue is genuinely being explored and whether this case is being treated with the urgency it deserves,” he added.

Bennett said he wanted Miliband to hear the case “directly from the family”.

“After more than 600 days, I do not think that is too much to ask,” he added.

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