British-Iranian woman Anousheh Ashouri among three jailed on spying charges in Iran

Dual British-Iranian national Anousheh Ashouri has been sentenced (file image)
REUTERS
Rebecca Speare-Cole27 August 2019

Iran has sentenced a British-Iranian woman on spying charges.

Three people were sentenced to lengthy prison terms on security and spying charges, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

British-Iranian dual national Anousheh Ashouri has been jailed for 12 years for ties to the Israeli spy agency Mossad, alongside a man named by Mr Esmaili as Ali Johari.

A spokesman for Britain's foreign ministry said: "We have been supporting the family of a British-Iranian dual national... and our Embassy in Tehran continues to request consular access.

"The treatment of all dual nationals detained in Iran is a priority and we raise their cases at the most senior levels. We urge Iran to let them be reunited with their families."

Mr Johari, meanwhile, allegedly passed on information about construction projects by a Revolutionary Guard-affiliated construction conglomerate, Khatam al-Anbia.

The third identified by Mr Esmaili was British Council worker Aras Amiri, who was actually jailed for 10 years in May after allegedly spying on cultural activities in Iran.

Aras Amiri

Her sentence was upheld last week when Iran authorities rejected her appeal.

Tensions have been strained between the UK and Iran since British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in 2016 as she was leaving Tehran.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was put on trial and is now serving a five-year sentence for allegedly trying to topple the Iranian government.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was was arrested in 2016 as she was leaving Tehran.
PA

Iran also said in July it had captured 17 spies working for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and some had been sentenced to death.

It was unclear whether Tuesday's announcement was linked to the same case.

It comes as the president of Iran has back-pedalled on possible talks with Donald Trump, and now says the US president first must lift sanctions imposed on Tehran.

President Hassan Rouhani, speaking during a ceremony in the capital Tehran, told the United States to "take the first step" by lifting all sanctions against Iran 
AFP/Getty Images

Hassan Rouhani said that otherwise, a meeting between the two would be just a photo opportunity and "that is not possible".

Mr Rouhani's change of heart came a day after Mr Trump said on Monday there is a good chance the two could meet after a surprise intervention by French president Emmanuel Macron during the G-7 summit to try to bring Washington and Tehran together.

Mr Rouhani said that "without the US's withdrawal from sanctions, we will not witness any positive development". He added that Washington "holds the key".

Earlier on Monday, Mr Rouhani had expressed readiness to negotiate a way out of the crisis following America's withdrawal from the nuclear deal

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