An Austrian arrested in Iran in October has been sentenced to years in prison. The Austrian citizen was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison on Monday for alleged espionage, the Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday evening. The Iranian ambassador was therefore summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, where he was told “our unequivocal protest once morest the verdict,” it said.
With good behavior, two years of the sentence imposed would be released on probation, said the State Department, which emphasized that it has been in regular contact with the family since the arrest became known. Thanks to intensive efforts, three prison visits have taken place so far, during which the Austrian Ambassador to Iran was able to meet the man.
The man was arrested in Iran in mid-October last year. The arrest was not related to the protests in Iran. Unlike the case of two other Austrians imprisoned in Iran, the convicted man is not a dual citizen, but only has Austrian citizenship.
The two Austrian-Iranian dual citizens were also sentenced to years in prison for alleged espionage. The Viennese IT expert Kamran Ghaderi has been in prison in Tehran since 2016. The Secretary General of the Austro-Iranian Society Massud Mossaheb, who was arrested during a visit to Tehran in early 2019, was granted medical leave in November for health reasons.
