by WorldTribune Staff, August 29, 2016
A member of Iran’s team that negotiated last summer’s nuclear deal with world powers has been arrested on suspicion of spying.
At an Aug. 28 new conference, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei called the individual a “spy who had infiltrated the nuclear team.”
Ejei said the suspect was released on bail after a few days in jail but remains under investigation.
Iranian media outlets on Aug. 28 identified the suspect as Abdolrasoul Dorri Esfahani, a senior accountant involved in banking-related aspects of the nuclear talks.
Iran has in the past executed people it claimed to be “spies” for both Israel and the U.S.
Earlier this month, Teheran executed a nuclear scientist convicted of handing over “confidential and vital” information to the United States.
In June of 2012, Iran said it dismantled a terrorist and sabotage network in the southern city of Shiraz which Iranian officials claimed had links to the CIA and Israel. The network was alleged to have planned bombings and assassination attempts during Iran’s presidential election.
In May 2012, Iran hanged two convicted spies, one accused and found guilty of working for Israel, the other for the United States.
In a previous incident, Iran executed Majid Jamali Fashi after convicting him of spying for the Mossad and of playing a key role in the January 2010 assassination of a top nuclear scientist in return for payment of $120,000.