Iran said it has arrested “a number of spies” and jailed two men over alleged espionage for Britain, Germany, and Israel.
Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili announced on Tuesday that Iranian-Austrian citizen Masud Mosaheb had been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Esmaili claimed that Mosaheb, who served as chairman of the Iran-Austrian Friendship Society, was connected to German and Israeli intelligence and provided "foreigners with information on military, nuclear, nanotechnology, and health-care projects.”
Austria’s Kurier newspaper reported that the 73-year-old Mosaheb had been detained in January 2019 while leading a delegation to Iran for a medicine project.
The Austrian Foreign Ministry said it had no access to Mosaheb. Iran considers dual nationals as subject to Iranian laws and did not allow Austria to make any contact with the inmate.
The Iranian spokesman claimed that the second jailed man, identified as Shahram Shirkhani, had been working for British intelligence and was also sentenced to 10 years in prison.
In a separate announcement, Iran's Intelligence Ministry said "a number of spies related to foreign intelligence services were identified and arrested."
