New Accusations by Tehran Prosecutor Against Abdolrasool Dari Esfahani and Nazanin Zaghari

The Tehran prosecutor states that Abdolrasool Dari Esfahani, a member of Iran's nuclear negotiation team, has not only engaged in 'espionage' but also transferred '62 billion tomans in currency' out of the country. Nazanin Zaghari is said to have been active in the British 'system' and recruited individuals for 'propaganda activities against Iran' for BBC Persian. According to a report on Tuesday (October 17) by the official news agency of the judiciary (Mizan), Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi made these remarks during a meeting of the Tehran Prosecutor's Council. Mr. Jafari Dolatabadi criticized the statements of Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence, who claimed that according to 'experts' from his ministry, Abdolrasool Dari Najafabadi was not only not a 'spy' but also cooperated with the anti-espionage department of the ministry. He described the ministry's agents as 'judicial authorities' and added that if they claim to have expert status, they should know that their expert opinion is not binding on the judge like that of official forensic experts, police officers, and local experts. Jafari Dolatabadi deemed the Minister of Intelligence's expectation for the judiciary to respect the opinions of the ministry's agents as 'contrary to the law' and added that 'today, some rulings are issued and executed based on the judge's knowledge.' He further stated that 'in this particular case, at least the Tehran prosecutor's office, which has been involved in the case, has witnessed the resistance encountered during the proceedings and issuance of the ruling.' In addition to the 'espionage' issue, the Tehran prosecutor also considered Mr. Dari Esfahani to have 'financial charges' and added that he 'approved facilities for a company with which he had financial dealings while being a member of the board of directors of a private bank.' According to this judicial official, a member of Iran's nuclear negotiation team 'collaborated with others to transfer 62 billion tomans in currency at the official rate out of the country without any goods being imported.' In September 2016, media close to the Revolutionary Guards reported that a close member of Iran's nuclear negotiating team was arrested on charges of 'espionage for the enemy,' later identified as Abdolrasool Dari Esfahani. Conservatives claim that Mr. Dari Esfahani holds dual Iranian-Canadian citizenship, while Hamid Baidi-Nejad, an Iranian diplomat and head of the expert group of Iran's nuclear negotiating team, has denied that Dari Esfahani has dual citizenship. According to Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje'i, the spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary, Mr. Dari Esfahani has been sentenced to five years in prison for 'espionage and providing information to foreigners.' Regarding Nazanin Zaghari, the Tehran prosecutor stated that she holds dual British citizenship and 'was active in that country's system.' This judicial official considered the letter sent by former British Prime Minister David Cameron to Nazanin Zaghari as 'evidence of her connection to the UK government and her importance' to that country. Dolatabadi identified Ms. Zaghari as 'responsible for training online journalism for BBC Persian' and added that she was 'working to attract and train individuals for propaganda activities against Iran.' He noted that 'how to use fake emails, complex and long passwords, password storage, and the use of encryption software for materials and information were among the topics covered in this training.' The Tehran prosecutor also mentioned Mehdi Yahyanejad (director of the Balatarin website), Ardavan Roozbeh (director of Radio Kooch), and Mahmoud Enayat (director of the Small Media group) as instructors of these courses. These statements come at a time when the director of the BBC World Service had previously stated that Ms. Zaghari had never collaborated with the Persian section of this media outlet. Nazanin Zaghari, who traveled to Iran in spring 2016 to visit her family, was arrested at Tehran airport while leaving the country and, after months of imprisonment without trial, was ultimately sentenced to five years in prison. Richard Ratcliffe, her husband, recently told the Associated Press that Ms. Zaghari has been accused of new crimes that could add 16 years to her sentence. According to Iranian news agencies, the Tehran prosecutor also mentioned Soheil Arabi, stating that he 'insulted the Prophet of Islam and the Imams and the Holy Quran.' He noted that Mr. Arabi 'has faced other charges including insulting officials of the regime, engaging in propaganda against the regime, and publishing obscene images, and has been convicted,' with the 'harshest sentence' against him 'currently being executed.' Jafari Dolatabadi criticized those who support Arabi, adding that 'his initial sentence was death, and the annulment of this sentence by the Supreme Court and its conversion to imprisonment is evidence of the independence of judges and the judiciary's determination to issue rulings based on the law.' Soheil Arabi, 32 years old, was arrested four years ago after writing critical posts on a social media platform and faced a preliminary death sentence for 'insulting the Prophet.' After his death sentence was revoked by one of the branches of the Supreme Court, he was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison and has been imprisoned since November 7, 2013, without leave. The Tehran prosecutor also announced the charges against Reza Shahabi Zakaria as 'collaborating with one of the anti-regime groups by collecting security information and news and sending it to the anti-regime group and receiving money from them.' Mr. Shahabi is a board member of the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, who has recently been sentenced to over a thousand more days in prison and has gone on hunger strike in protest against it.