The US has said it was “troubled” by Iran’s reported 18-year sentence of an Iranian American accused of spying, a week after two other dual citizens were sentenced amid tense bilateral relations.
In an interview from a prison in northeast Iran with the los Angeles Times, Gholamrez Reza Shahini, 46, said yesterday he was being sent to prison for “collaborating with a hostile Government,” a reference to the United States.
The San Diego man, who goes by the nickname Robin, said he was arrested July 11 when he was visiting his mother and other family members in Iran.
“We are troubled by reports that Robin or Raisa Shahini, a person reported to be a US citizen, may have been convicted and sentenced to 18 years in prison,” said State Department spokesman John Kirby.