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Iran Sentences 2 on Spy Charges


Iran's Revolutionary Court sentenced two people to 10 years in prison Sunday for spying, but did not identify the suspects or their nationalities.

A court spokesman said the two spied for the United States and Israel.

Iran arrested several alleged spies last October in southern Bushehr province, home to the country's first nuclear power plant. But it is unclear if Sunday's verdict is related to those arrests.

It is also unknown if one of those convicted is Iranian-American Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who was arrested last year and whose trial on spy charges ended earlier this month.

But Washington Post foreign editor Douglas Jehl tells VOA the newspaper does not believe Rezaian was among those sentenced. Jehl said a judiciary spokesman stated that he had no new information about the reporter.

Rezaian's trial was held behind closed doors and the details on the charges against him have been vague.

The Post has called the charges against Rezaian baseless and absurd and the trial a sham.

The State Department has demanded his release and that of all Americans held in Iran.

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