An Iranian accountant who took part in negotiations with the West over Tehran’s nuclear programme has been sentenced to five years jail term for espionage.
An appeal court upheld a conviction in 2016, Iranian news agency — Tasnim — reported on Wednesday.
Whilst the report did not name him explicitly, it seems to deal with the case of AbdolRassoul Esfahani.
In 2015, Esfahani was an economic expert for Iranian delegation during the final phase of nuclear deal negotiations.
According to reports from media sources close to Iran’s hardliners, he spied for the West and passed on secret economic information.
In August 2016, he was briefly arrested but allowed to leave after paying bail.
At that time, both the Iranian foreign ministry and secret service dismissed the charges as absurd.
Commentators speculated that Esfahani’s possession of Canadian passport could be behind the charges.
It is not officially permitted to hold a foreign passport in Iran.
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