An unidentified British-Iranian dual citizen has been jailed for six years on spying charges, the official news agency of Iran’s judiciary reported on Sunday.
No further information was reported about when and where the person was arrested and convicted.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This person has not been identified and “there is no known case of a British-Iranian national being jailed for six years”, says Sky News.
The Independent reports that the UK Foreign Office was “not immediately aware of the case”.
A spokesperson said: “We are currently investigating the reported sentencing of a British-Iranian dual national with the Iranian authorities.”
Because Iran does not recognise dual citizenship, foreign embassies often have limited access to dual nationals held in the country.
Since 2015, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have arrested at least 30 dual citizens, “mostly on spying charges”, Reuters reported in November.
At least two British-Iranian citizens are known to be held in Iran. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian aid worker, was sentenced to five years in jail after being convicted of seeking to overthrow the Iranian government in 2016.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 39, was classified as eligible for early release in December 2017 after spending more than 18 months in an Iranian prison, but she remains in Iranian custody.
Kamal Foroughi, a 78-year-old British-Iranian businessman, was arrested in 2011 and convicted of espionage and possessing alcohol, which is banned in Iran.
-
6 exquisite homes for skiersFeature Featuring a Scandinavian-style retreat in Southern California and a Utah abode with a designated ski room
-
Film reviews: ‘The Testament of Ann Lee,’ ’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,’ and ‘Young Mothers’Feature A full-immersion portrait of the Shakers’ founder, a zombie virus brings out the best and worst in the human survivors, and pregnancy tests the resolve of four Belgian teenagers
-
Political cartoons for January 25Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include a hot economy, A.I. wisdom, and more
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Iran unleashes carnage on its own peopleFeature Demonstrations began in late December as an economic protest
-
How oil tankers have been weaponisedThe Explainer The seizure of a Russian tanker in the Atlantic last week has drawn attention to the country’s clandestine shipping network
-
Iran in flames: will the regime be toppled?
In Depth The moral case for removing the ayatollahs is clear, but what a post-regime Iran would look like is anything but
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Trump, Iran trade threats as protest deaths riseSpeed Read The death toll in Iran has surpassed 500
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
