Iran convicts four on espionage charges

TEHRAN — Iran's judiciary on Tuesday announced it had convicted four people on charges of spying for the United States or Britain, sentencing one of them to death.

"Last week, a person accused of espionage for an American [intelligence]service was sentenced to death by a revolutionary court," judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili told a press conference.

Esmaili did not name the accused but said the identity would be revealed if the verdict is confirmed by the supreme court.

The spokesman also did disclose the names of the other three, each sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Ali Nafariyeh and Mohammad-Ali Babapour were convicted of spying for the US and fined $55,000, the amount they were allegedly paid for collaborating with Washington.

Mohammad Amin-Nassab was found guilty of spying for Britain.

Tehran announced in July it had dismantled a CIA spy ring, arresting 17 suspects and sentencing some of them to death.

Iranian authorities said the arrests were carried out between March 2018 and March 2019.

US President Donald Trump dismissed the claim as “totally false”.

In mid-September, Iran charged three detained Australians with spying, after the reported arrest of a travel-blogging
couple and an academic.