Iran jails US dual citizen for 10 years on spying charges

TEHRAN– An Iranian court has sentenced a US dual national to 10 years in prison over spying charges, an Iranian judiciary spokesman said on Sunday.

The person who owns the nationality of both the US and another country had snooped into Iran to gather documents and intelligence, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejeie, spokesman for Iranian judiciary, told the reporters.

Ejeie said that the man, who “was directly guided by the United States” on his mission in Iran, was identified and arrested by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry.

The Iranian judiciary official said that the verdict is not final pending appeals.

Details about the person and his acts will be announced once the final verdict is issued, Ejeie said.

Iran has sentenced several dual nationals, some of them are holding US citizenship, over spying charges in the past years.

The latest example dates back to September 2016, when Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced the arrest of an Iranian-American in the country’s northeastern province of Golestan over spying and security charges.

In August 2016, Iran reportedly arrested another person, also with dual citizenships, accusing him of linking to Britain’s foreign intelligence service MI6. (Xinhua)