Iran Foreign Ministry Employee Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison on Espionage Charges
Iran’s judiciary spokesperson announced on Sunday that an employee of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been sentenced to ten years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $270,000 on espionage charges.
Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje’i said at his press conference that Kamal Amirbayik, an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was sentenced to ten years in prison by the primary court, and this verdict was upheld by the appellate court.
The judiciary spokesperson did not provide further details about the charges against this individual or his position and background at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, some news media outlets have reported that he had previously worked at Iranian embassies in Turkey and Venezuela.
Meanwhile, Bahram Qasemi, spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that the conviction of this individual is “not a new matter.” According to Qasemi, Kamal Amirbayik was “arrested in 1394 (2015) and sentenced in early 1395 (2016)” and “by the end of that year also benefited from a reduction in some of his penalties in the appellate court.”
Nearly a year ago, Abdolrasoul Deri Esfahani, a member of Iran’s nuclear negotiating team, was also sentenced to five years in prison by the judiciary on espionage charges. Although the court cited espionage as his charge, the Ministry of Intelligence stated that according to the experts’ opinion in that ministry, Deri Esfahani was not a spy. Deri Esfahani holds dual Iranian-Canadian citizenship.
Last month, Eje’i announced the conviction of a dual-national individual named “Tokoli” on espionage charges. Without providing details about this person’s background and activities, he stated that Tokoli’s sentence was final and he was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. Eje’i said that this individual’s assets worth $48,000 were also confiscated.
The spokesperson for the Islamic Republic of Iran’s judiciary stated that these individuals “typically work simultaneously for America and Israel.”
Source: Voice of America
