{"id":6628,"date":"2021-03-15T12:47:07","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T12:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyrapidnews.com\/eng\/?p=6628"},"modified":"2021-03-15T12:47:07","modified_gmt":"2021-03-15T12:47:07","slug":"iran-charges-detained-french-tourist-with-spying-lawyer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyrapidnews.com\/eng\/2021\/03\/15\/iran-charges-detained-french-tourist-with-spying-lawyer\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran charges detained French tourist with spying: Lawyer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Iran has charged a French tourist with spying and \u201cspreading propaganda against the system,\u201d his lawyer said, the latest in a series of cases against foreigners at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the West.<\/p>\n

Saeid Dehghan said that Benjamin Briere, 35, was arrested 10 months ago after flying a helicam in the desert near the Turkmenistan-Iran border.<\/p>\n

\"Iran-charges-detained-French-tourist-with-spying-Lawyer-rapidnews-dailyrapid\"<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Sunday, he (Briere) was charged with two counts of espionage and propaganda against the Islamic Republic,\u201d Dehghan told Reuters news agency on Monday, adding that Briere faces a long-term jail sentence. Dehghan also stated the charges against Briere in a Twitter post on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis last defence was taken yesterday. His spying charges is because of taking pictures in forbidden areas,\u201d Dehghan told Reuters.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is in the Vakilabad prison in the city of Mashhad. His health is good and he has access to his lawyers and also he benefits from consular protection and the French embassy officials have been in regular contact with him,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s judiciary was not available to comment. France has yet to comment on Briere\u2019s charges.<\/p>\n

Last month, France\u2019s foreign ministry confirmed that a French citizen was being held in Iran and said it was monitoring the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the French government is pursuing Briere\u2019s case, I am concerned that any delay in comprehensive follow-up will further complicate the case,\u201d Dehghan said.<\/p>\n

The lawyer said Briere has been charged with \u201cpropaganda against the system\u201d because of a post on social media, in which he said \u201cthe hijab is mandatory\u201d in Iran but not in other Muslim-majority countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy colleagues and I believe that these charges are false and baseless, but we have to wait for the judge to conduct a full investigation in the next few days and announce his verdict,\u201d Dehghan said.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have arrested dozens of dual-nationals and foreigners in recent years, mostly on espionage charges.<\/p>\n

Rights activists have accused Tehran of doing so to try to win concessions from other countries. Iran denies it holds people for political reasons and has accused many of those held in its jails of espionage.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, British-Iranian dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe reappeared in a Tehran court to face accusations of spreading propaganda after completing a full five-year prison sentence on spying charges. She remains in limbo in Iran awaiting the verdict, unable to fly home to the UK.<\/p>\n

The cases come as Iran escalates pressure on the United States and European powers, including France and the United Kingdom, to grant the badly needed sanctions relief the country had received under its tattered nuclear accord with world powers under which it curbed its nuclear programme in return for sanctions being lifted.<\/p>\n

While former US President Donald Trump abandoned the landmark nuclear deal with Iran in 2018 and reimposed harsh sanctions on the country, President Joe Biden has offered to join talks towards restoring the deal, so long as Iran returns to full compliance with its terms. But Washington and Tehran have reached an impasse, with each insisting the other move first to revive the deal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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