American accused of ‘infiltration’ in Iran sentenced to 10 years

Unnamed individual with dual citizenship said to be among some 70 alleged ‘spies’ jailed by Tehran

By AFP 16 July 2017, 2:37 pm

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Illustrative: A 2008 photo of Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran, where a number of foreigners and dual nationals have been detained over the years. (CC BY-SA 2.0 Ehsan Iran/Wikipedia)

TEHRAN — A United States citizen accused of “infiltration” in Iran has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, a spokesman for the judiciary said on Sunday.

“The person was identified and arrested by the intelligence forces. The court has sentenced the person to 10 years,” deputy judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejeie said in a televised press conference.

The individual, whose name was not provided, has appealed the sentence, he added.

The foreigner holds dual nationality of the United States and another country, he said, promising to give more details once the appeals court confirms the sentence.

In January, Tehran’s chief prosecutor said as many as 70 “spies” were serving sentences in the city’s prisons — the identities of only a handful of which have been made public.

Most are thought to be Iranians who hold another passport from Europe or the United States.

In October, US-Iranian business consultant Siamak Namazi and his 80-year-old father Baquer, a former UNICEF official, were given 10 years in prison for “espionage and collaboration with the American government.”