Tehran jails two Iranians over espionage claims

Iran put two of its citizens in prison for 10 years after finding them guilty of spying for Israel, Germany and the UK.

A report published on the website of the Iranian judiciary yesterday identified the two men as Masoud Mosaheb, co-chairman of the IranAustrian Friendship Society, and Shahram Shirkhani.

Iran claimed Mr Mosaheb shared information about “nuclear and missile projects” with Israel and the German intelligence service. Mr Shirkhani was accused of spying for the UK by gathering “sensitive information” about Iran’s banking and defence sectors.

The Iranian judiciary also claimed he tried to recruit government staff to his cause.

Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said five Iranians were detained on spying charges recently. He said the group included employees of Iran’s foreign and energy ministries. People accused of espionage by Iran face lengthy jail terms or even the death penalty.

Last month, Reza Asgari, a former employee at the Iranian defence ministry, was executed over claims he passed information about Iran’s missile programme to the CIA.

Mahmoud Mousavi-Majd was also executed last month after being convicted of providing information about top Iranian military commander Qassem Suleimani to the US and Israel.

Suleimani, who was head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad in January.

In June, Iran hanged Jalal Hajizavar, who worked for the defence ministry, after he was accused of spying for the CIA.

In 2016, Iran executed a nuclear scientist convicted of passing information to the US.