Iran jails Foreign Ministry official for spying

DUBAI – 12 November 2018: An Iranian court has sentenced a man working for the Foreign Ministry to 10 years in prison after convicting him of spying, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Sunday.

However, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said the man had been arrested about three years ago and convicted a year later. His sentence had been reduced by an appeals court, according to the ministry's website. He gave no further details.

Ejei, quoted by the judiciary's news website Mizan, named the sentenced man as Kamal Amirbeik and said he had also been fined $270,000. Mizan did not say who he was accused of spying for or give any further details.

Iranian security forces have arrested dozens of people working in state bodies on espionage accusations, Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi said in August.