
loading…
Reuters reported that the Iranian Interior Ministry was not immediately available to comment on the arrests. The news of the arrests comes in the wake of the arrest of a number of foreigners and dual nationals by Iranian security forces during the past few years.
Read: The United States: Air strikes on Syria are a message to Iran
Most of them were arrested on espionage and security charges. Rights groups have described it as a tactic to win concessions from abroad by making accusations that Tehran denies.
In June, Iran’s appeals court confirmed the 9-year prison sentence for French tourist Benjamin Brier on espionage charges, nearly two years after he was arrested near the border with Turkmenistan for taking drone photos.
In July, Iran said it had arrested a Swedish national for espionage, weeks after a Stockholm court found a former Iranian official guilty of war crimes.
Read: Iran is preparing to conduct a large-scale military exercise with a drone
Iranian courts are currently trying Jamshid Sharehad, a German-Iranian accused of leading an armed opposition group. Tehran said in 2020 that its intelligence services had detained U.S.-based Sharmahed, without providing details. His family said he was kidnapped while visiting Dubai.
Last August, an Iranian court sentenced German-Iranian human rights activist Nahid Taghvi to more than 10 years in prison on national security charges.
(esn)