UK condemns 10-year sentence of dual national by Iran

Mehran Raoof, 64, was sentenced by a Tehran court earlier this week

Dual citizens Mehran Raoof (left) and Nahid Taghavi were arrested last October.

The UK has condemned the sentencing by a Tehran court of 64-year-old British-Iranian citizen Mehran Raoof on what his supporters say are trumped up charges.

Mr Raoof was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison on national security charges by an Iranian Revolutionary Court earlier this week. German-Iranian citizen Nahid Taghavi, 66, was given a similar sentence.

“We strongly condemn the sentence given to Mehran Raoof. We continue to do all we can to support Mehran and his family, and continue to raise his case at the most senior levels,” a UK foreign office spokesman said.

Mr Raoof’s lawyer Mostafa Nili said the court jailed the pair for “10 years in prison for participating in the management of an illegal group and to eight months in prison for propaganda activities against the regime.”

They were first arrested last October.

Both had both been detained for long periods in solitary confinement at Tehran’s notorious Evin prison before the trial.