“Two Frenchmen were arrested on charges of espionage and conspiracy against the security of the country,” judiciary spokesman Massoud Setayeshi was quoted by Mizan Online as saying.
Setayeshi added that an indictment was issued for the Belgian national and is awaiting the results of the investigation launched by the prosecutor.
The judiciary spokesman refused to reveal further details about the charges against 40 other foreign nationals detained in the country during the recent wave of protests but said “we promise to inform about the latest status of all nationals who were arrested” when the time is right.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused foreign nations, mainly Israel, the United States, and European countries of being behind the recent wave of massive countrywide protests in the country that have triggered a violent crackdown by security forces.
At least 516 protesters, including 70 children, have been killed and over 19,000 have been arrested since the protests began almost four months ago, according to US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
Seven French nationals are currently detained in Iran. Benjamin Briere, who was detained in 2020, was sentenced to over eight years in prison for espionage charges last year.
French President Emmanuel Macron in October condemned Iran's violent crackdown on the protests.
“For the women who courageously began to drop the veil and go before arms, for the young people and the men who are fighting for women's rights, for what is universal in this fight, France condemns the repressions perpetrated by the Iranian regime,” read a tweet from Macron on Wednesday.
In October, France advised its citizens to leave Iran “as soon as possible” as the country continues to reel from protests sparked by the death of 22-year old Kurdish woman Zhina (Mahsa) Amini in custody of the country’s morality police in September.
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