Mohammad Esmail Mollazehi, who was charged with “spying in an attempt to act against Iranian national security,” has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
ISNA reports that Zahedan prosecutor Mohammd Marzieh announced: “Mohammad Esmail Mollazehi, known as Aboujan, was arrested in Zahedan in October of 2010 and his file was sent to the Revolutionary court last February.”
He added that “his main charge is communicating with one of the embassies and delivering information to certain parties there and linking to an operative in Dubai and sending coded messages.”
It has not been announced which embassy is implicated in the accusation.
Marzieh added: “This individual also followed the files of certain detainees in Iran and was trying to release them.”
Marzieh said the accused was sentenced to 10 years in prison but he applied for leniency and, because he had no previous record, his sentence was reduced to four years in jail plus five years’ suspended sentence.
In the past, Iran has tried a number of individuals accused of espionage. Ali Ashtari was arrested and charged with “spying for Israel” in 2006 and executed in 2008. He was accused of penetrating sensitive government centres and delivering intelligence to Mossad.
