Iran’s interior ministry was not immediately available to comment on the detention. News of the arrest follows the detention of a number of foreigners and dual nationals by Iranian security forces in recent years, mostly on espionage and security-related charges. Rights groups call it a tactic to win concessions from abroad by fabricating charges, which Tehran denies. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register In June, an Iranian appeals court upheld the nearly nine-year prison sentence of French tourist Benjamin Briere on espionage charges, nearly two years after he was arrested near the border with Turkmenistan for taking drone photos. read more In July, Iran said it had arrested a Swedish citizen on espionage charges, weeks after a court in Stockholm convicted a former Iranian official of war crimes. read more An Iranian court is currently trying Jamshid Sharmahd, a German-Iranian accused of leading an armed opposition. Tehran said in 2020 its intelligence services had arrested US-based Sharmahd without giving details. His family said he had been abducted while visiting Dubai. Last August, an Iranian court sentenced German-Iranian rights activist Nahid Taghavi to more than 10 years in prison on national security charges. read more Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Joern Poltz and the Dubai newsroom. Riham Alkousaa writes. Edited by Pravin Char, William Maclean Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
