Photo: on 8 February 2016, President Sheikh Hassan Rohani decorated the Canadian-Iranian Abdolrasoul Dorri Esfahani for his role during the 5+1 negotiations. Today he quashes his punishment for spying: 5 years in prison.

At the end of 2016, 12 personalities have been arrested in Iran for spying during international negotiations on the nuclear sector. They have just been tried and sentenced to 5 to 10 years in prison. However no one has confessed to the crime that they have been reproached of.

The Iranian judicial system is heavily politicized. It is frequent that personalities in the spotlight are accused of imaginary crimes and are held in remand for a long time. In contrast, it is exceptional that the outcome of these investigations is a sentence.

Coming out of his silence, the Minister of Intelligence, Mahmoud Alavi, has recalled that his department is the only one able to determine cases of espionage. He has confirmed that those convicted had not in any way committed treason but had, in contrast, rendered an unimaginable service to the Islamic Republic.

Translation
Anoosha Boralessa