Iran upholds 10-yr-jail terms for 4 men linked to US

tehran — The Iranian judiciary on Sunday upheld 10-year jail terms for an American, two USIranian dual nationals and a Lebanese permanent resident of the United States for “collaborating” with Washington.

In a ruling that comes at a time of rising tensions following President Donald Trump’s arrival in the White House in January, the Tehran prosecutor’s office said the four men’s appeals had been rejected.

Xiyue Wang, a Chinese-born American, was sentenced to 10 years in jail for “collaborating with foreign governments”, said Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, quoted by the mizanonline website close to the judiciary. He said the same sentence was upheld against two dual nationals for “collaborating with a foreign government”, and Lebanese national Nizar Zakka, a US permanent resident, for working with the American government.

The dual nationals, businessman Siamak Namazi and his father Mohammad Bagher Namazi, were convicted in October 2016 along with Zakka and three others on charges of “spying” for Washington.

The State Department in July called on Iran to immediately release United States citizens and other foreigners detained on “fabricated” national security charges, as Iran announced that Xiyue, a Princeton University researcher, had been handed a 10-year sentence for “infiltration” and espionage.

“We call for the immediate release of all United States citizens unjustly detained in Iran so they can return to their families,” a State Department official said. “The Iranian regime continues to detain US citizens and other foreigners on fabricated national security-related charges,” the official said.

Trump warned of “new and serious consequences” unless US nationals held in the Islamic republic were released, triggering criticism from Tehran of the detention of Iranian citizens in the United States.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused Washington of holding Iranians on “charges of sanction violations that are not applicable today... for bogus and purely political reasons”. —