Denial of Arrest of 'One of the Staff Members of the JCPOA Office on Charges of Espionage'

The Iranian Foreign Ministry described the news of the 'arrest of one of the staff members of the JCPOA office on charges of espionage' as 'completely baseless' in a statement released on Monday, September 1. Iranian state news agencies reported the remarks of 'an informed source' in the Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic, declaring that 'the news published in some media and social networks regarding the arrest of one of the staff members of the JCPOA office on charges of espionage' is 'completely false and unfounded.' The report did not mention the source of the initial news, but some Twitter users had published news regarding this matter. Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, has repeatedly warned about 'enemy infiltration' into the structure of the Islamic Republic following the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, known as the JCPOA. Khamenei stated on August 17, 2015: 'The intention of the Americans was to use these negotiations and this agreement as a means to infiltrate inside the country. We have closed this path and will decisively close it; we will not allow American economic infiltration into our country, nor their political infiltration, nor their political presence, nor their cultural infiltration.' The denial of the news about the arrest of a spy in the JCPOA office by the Iranian Foreign Ministry coincides with the day the ministry's spokesperson also denied the arrest of several officials of the Islamic Republic on charges of 'dual nationality.' Bahram Qasemi, the spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, also stated that 'if someone has been arrested, it has been for other reasons.' The spokesperson did not specify which official or officials he was referring to. The Islamic Republic currently has several Iranians who hold citizenship of other countries in custody. Iran does not recognize dual citizenship for its citizens.