Tehran: A member of Iran’s team of nuclear negotiators that struck the 2015 deal with world powers has been sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted in Iran of espionage, a semi-official news agency reported.
While unnamed in the report on Wednesday, the only negotiator known to be facing criminal charges is dual Iranian-Canadian national Abdolrasoul Dorri Esfahani.
His detention, if confirmed, would make him the latest dual national to be arrested in Iran, part of what a United Nations panel has called an “emerging pattern” since the atomic accord.
The sentencing was only reported by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, which is believed to be close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, a hard-line force answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Guard has been involved in nearly every case involving dual nationals or those with Western ties being detained.
“The conviction of a member of the nuclear negotiation team who has been arrested before and released on bail has been confirmed in the Tehran provincial appeals court,” the short report read. “This person has been sentenced to five years in prison."
Philip Hannan, a spokesman for Global Affairs Canada, said Canadian officials were “aware of media reports that a dual national has been sentenced in Iran.” He declined to elaborate.
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