Two Britons arrested in Iran last month on a round-the-world motorcycle tour have been charged with espionage.

Craig and Lindsay Foreman were detained by security forces in the central eastern city of Kerman as they travelled through the country last month.

The couple were arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence organisation, with a government source telling The Telegraph anonymously that they had been taken for use as political bargaining chips.

Asghar Jahangir, a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary, said: “These individuals were arrested in January of this year on charges of espionage.”

He added: “Two British nationals had been placed under surveillance by provincial intelligence agencies during a co-ordinated intelligence operation while collecting information in Kerman and were subsequently arrested.”

Mr Jahangir claimed the pair had been gathering information in several Iranian provinces under the guise of research and investigative work.