Judiciary Spokesman Announces Confirmation of Sentence for Nuclear Negotiation Team Member

Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesman for Iran's judiciary, announced on Sunday the confirmation of a five-year prison sentence for Abdolrasoul Dari Esfahani, a member of the nuclear negotiation team, citing charges of espionage and providing information to foreign entities. In a press conference on Sunday, October 8, the judiciary spokesman directly referred to Abdolrasoul Dari Esfahani as a dual national who had connections with two intelligence services, stating that his five-year prison sentence had been confirmed and finalized by the appeals court. Ejei also reported that a financial corruption case related to Dari Esfahani is currently under investigation, and a bail order has been issued for him in this case. In September 2016, media outlets close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reported the arrest of a close member of Iran's nuclear negotiation team on charges of 'espionage for the enemy.' Subsequent reports identified this individual as Abdolrasoul Dari Esfahani, but the Iranian Foreign Ministry denied the published reports, and the Minister of Intelligence informed the Islamic Consultative Assembly that, according to the experts of the Ministry of Intelligence, Dari Esfahani had not engaged in espionage. Dari Esfahani himself initially dismissed the reports about his arrest as 'ridiculous,' but the website 'Bank Mardom' and other sites that had republished his interview removed it from their pages shortly after publication. Previously, the judiciary spokesman had mentioned the arrest and issuance of an indictment against him several times without directly naming Dari Esfahani. Last week, the Tasnim news agency reported, citing an informed source, that the five-year prison sentence for 'a member of the nuclear negotiation team' had been confirmed by the Tehran appeals court. Although Tasnim did not mention Dari Esfahani's name in its report, it stated that he, who had previously been arrested on charges of 'espionage,' is 'free on bail.' It is reported that Dari Esfahani holds dual Iranian-Canadian citizenship and is currently a non-executive member of the board of directors of Asia Insurance and an advisor to the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran. Meanwhile, Hamid Baidi-Nejad, an Iranian diplomat and head of the expert group of Iran's nuclear negotiation team, had previously denied that Dari Esfahani held dual citizenship. In this context, a news agency close to the IRGC reported the five-year prison sentence for a member of the nuclear team, and other officials have made various statements regarding the espionage allegations against Dari Esfahani.