Tehran confirmed Tuesday an Iranian British Council employee, Aras Amiri, will have to serve 10 years in prison on charges of spying.
An Iranian appeals court upheld the sentence against her for “cultural infiltration”, the judiciary spokesman said on Tuesday.
Amiri was “sentenced to 10 years in jail… and she is already serving her term. This verdict has been upheld by the court,” spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said, quoted by the judiciary’s Mizan Online website.
“This person… was identified by us because of her cultural infiltration in society through arts and her widespread activities,” he added.
State media also named two other people convicted of spying. Iranian Ali Johari was accused of working for Israeli intelligence agencies, visiting Israel to get citizenship and “widespread connections with Mossad.” He was given a 12-year term as a result.
British-Iranian woman Anouseh Ashouri was also sentenced to 12 years after being found guilty of sending intelligence to Israel and “for acquiring illegitimate wealth.”
In May, London warned British-Iranian dual nationals against all travel to Iran due to Tehran’s “continued arbitrary detention and mistreatment” of its citizens.
The move came as Britain continues to try to secure the release from jail of dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
In a statement, the Foreign Office said British-Iranian dual nationals faced an “unacceptably higher risk of arbitrary detention and mistreatment” than nationals of other countries.
“The security forces may be suspicious of people with British connections, including those with links to institutions based in the UK, or which receive public funds from, or have perceived links to, the British government,” the statement said.
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