Iran has arrested a British-Iranian on suspicion of links to the United Kingdom intelligence service, the Tehran prosecutor told Iranian media on Tuesday.
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The state IRNA news agency reported on August 16 that the unidentified detainee had “been active in the economic field, related to Iran”.
He added that the accused, who has dual British-Iranian citizenship, was then linked to the British espionage service.
Echoing sentiments expressed earlier by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Dolatabadi said officials need to be alert for any attempts by Iran’s enemies, in particular the U.S, to undermine the nation’s stability through “infiltration”.
Mr Dolatabadi did not elaborate, saying only that the arrest took place last week.
The British government has not commented on the report.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have arrested at least six other dual-nationality citizens, or expatriates, upon their return to visit Iran in the last year, the highest number of Iranians with dual-nationality detained in recent years to have been acknowledged.
The detention of the British citizen comes days after Theresa May raised the issue of previous arrests during a phone call with President Rouhani.
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Iran does not recognise dual nationalities, meaning those detained can not receive consular assistance.
