Iran's judiciary said today, Tuesday, that the authorities have arrested 5 Iranians on charges of spying for Israel, Britain and Germany, and at least two of them have been sentenced to prison terms.
The spokesman for the judiciary, Ghulam Hussain Ismaeli, said - in an online press conference - that the five accused were arrested, two of them were convicted, and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
The spokesman stated that one of the convicts - named Masoud Musaheb - "spied for the Mossad and Germany under the cover" of assuming the position of Secretary-General of the Iranian-Austrian community.
He added that Shahram Shirkhani had spied for the British intelligence service and tried to recruit Iranian officials for the MI6 British intelligence service.
He said that Shirkhani revealed confidential information about Iran's Central Bank and Defense Ministry contracts, adding that he was convicted and sentenced to prison.
He went on to say that Masoud Musaheb - who was the Secretary General of the Iran-Austrian Friendship League - was sentenced to 10 years in prison for spying for the Israeli Mossad and German intelligence services, and he did not provide details of the other detainees.
It is noteworthy that, last year, the Iranian authorities issued death sentences against a number of members of a network of spies working for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and its members were recruited at the US Embassy in the UAE.