The Iranian judiciary has sentenced an Iranian woman allegedly working for the British Council on charges of “spying for the UK” to 10 years in prison on Monday, without naming the defendant.
Gholamhossein Esmali, the judiciary spokesperson said the woman had been “in charge of the Iran desk” of the British Council as reported by BBC.
Esmali said in a news conference that the person charged was “an Iranian female student” and confessed to “cooperating” with British intelligence.
"The person traveled to the country [Iran] using a false name in order to implement design, plan and lead various projects regarding the implementation of the cultural objectives of the old colonialism [UK] inside Islamic Iran," he said.
"The person was involved in contacting theater and art groups to implement that very issue of cultural infiltration or cultural ambush,” Esmali added.
The British Council is a cultural organization focusing on arts, culture, education, civil society and English language, but does not have any offices or representatives currently working within Iran.
However the London-based organization did state that one of their employees and art student, Aras Amiri, was arrested while on a private family visit to Iran in March of last year.
The British Council noted that she “worked in the UK in a junior role to support and showcase the Iranian contemporary art scene to UK audiences,” but was not head of “the Iran desk.”
Amiri’s cousin said in a statement last May that she had been of accused of “acting against national security” – a charge that Iranian authorities have used often against a number journalists as well as foreign and dual nationals arrested and detained in recent years.
On Monday, Sir Ciaran Devane, chief executive of the organization said, “We have seen reports that an Iranian national, claiming to be an employee of the British Council has been sentenced. However we have not been able to confirm that this is our colleague.”
"We are a non-political organization committed to people-to-people engagement, and our staff are not connected to any espionage agency," he added.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the UK said they are concerned about the reports coming from Iran.
“British embassy officials in Tehran are in touch with the Iranian government to seek further information," the agency stated.
