Alwaght- Iran has sentenced a woman to 10 years in prison for spying for Britain, a spokesperson for the Islamic Republic's judiciary has said on Monday.

"An Iranian who was in charge of the Iran desk in the British Council and was cooperating with Britain’s intelligence agency … was sentenced to 10 years in prison after clear confessions,” Gholamhossein Esmaili told reporters at a press conference.

The British Council is a so-called cultural organization with branches around the world that is funded from the UK's foreign office. Iran shut down the British Council's offices in 2009 for their "illegal activities".

The spokesman did not identify the person who was sentenced but said she had been sentenced recently after she "made a straightforward confession". A friend of the sentenced woman has allegedly identified her as Aras Amiri to the Reuters news agency, while British newspaper The Telegraph claimed that one of Amiri's family members confirmed she was the person sentenced.

The 33-year -old Amiri lived in London for more than a decade and worked at the British Council on projects.

Esmaili said that during her confession, the suspect described how she had been recruited, telling investigators about her instructions from the "English security agency".

The spokesman added that she was "an Iranian student who wanted to live and work in the UK", was hired by the British Council and "repeatedly travelled to Iran under aliases... and made connections with artistic and theatre groups".

Her case has similarities to that of the Iranian-British dual national spy Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, arrested three years ago. </s> Iran said on Monday it had sentenced an Iranian woman to 10 years prison for spying for Britain, as tension rises between Tehran and some Western countries over its nuclear and missile programs.

“An Iranian who was in charge of Iran desk in the British Council and was cooperating with Britain’s intelligence agency … was sentenced to 10 years in prison after clear confessions,” Gholamhossein Esmaili, a judiciary spokesman, said on the state television.

READ MORE: Iran threatens to resume higher uranium enrichment if nuclear deal fails

Esmaili said the woman was in charge of projects for “cultural infiltration” in Iran. He did not identify her, but said she was a student in Britain before being recruited by the British Council.

Esmaili said the woman had been in custody for almost a year. He did not specify whether she held British nationality.

The British Foreign Office did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. The British Council is Britain’s cultural agency overseas.

The arrest of Iranians accused of espionage has increased since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said last year there had been “infiltration” of Western agents in the country.

Iran has been increasingly at odds with Western countries since the United States withdrew from a deal Tehran signed with global powers to curb its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions. </s> LONDON (Reuters) - Iran said on Monday it had sentenced an Iranian woman to 10 years prison for spying for Britain, as tension rises between Tehran and some Western countries over its nuclear and missile programs.

“An Iranian who was in charge of Iran desk in the British Council and was cooperating with Britain’s intelligence agency... was sentenced to 10 years in prison after clear confessions,” Gholamhossein Esmaili, a judiciary spokesman, said on the state television.

Esmaili said the woman was in charge of projects for “cultural infiltration” in Iran. He did not identify her, but said she was a student in Britain before being recruited by the British Council.

Esmaili said the woman had been in custody for almost a year. He did not specify whether she held British nationality.

The British Foreign Office did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. The British Council is Britain’s cultural agency overseas.

The arrest of Iranians accused of espionage has increased since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said last year there had been “infiltration” of Western agents in the country.

Iran has been increasingly at odds with Western countries since the United States withdrew from a deal Tehran signed with global powers to curb its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions.

Related Coverage Britain concerned at reports Iran jailed woman for spying for UK

Britain is a signatory to the nuclear deal. Like other European signatories, it supports maintaining the deal.

The United States has ratcheted up sanctions against Iran this month, revoking waivers that had permitted some countries to continue buying Iranian oil. Tehran has responded by reducing curbs on its nuclear program, although steps it has taken so far stop short of violating the agreement. </s> An Iranian woman who worked for the was sentenced to 10 years in prison for "spying", the judiciary's website Mizan Online reported Monday, sparking concern in

"An Iranian citizen in charge of the desk at the... was cooperating with English spying agencies," Mizan reported, quoting judiciary

He did not identify the suspect, but said she had been sentenced recently after she "made a straightforward confession".

Esmaili added that the suspect, who had been tasked with drawing up and managing cultural "infiltration" projects, had been arrested by and security agencies "more than a year ago".

The United Kingdom's foreign ministry voiced concern over the sentence.

"We are very concerned by reports that an Iranian employee has been sentenced to jail on charges of espionage," a for the told AFP.

" officials in are in touch with the to seek further information." The British Council is a cultural and educational organisation with branches around the world, but according to its website it is not "physically preset" in

Iranian authorities shut down the British Council more than a decade ago for what Esmaili described as "illegal activities".

Esmaili said that during her confession, the suspect described how she had been recruited, telling investigators about the instructions she had been given by "the English security agency".

The said that she was "an Iranian student who wanted to live and work in the UK", was hired by the British Council and "repeatedly travelled to under aliases... and made connections with artistic and theatre groups".

A London-based British Council employee was arrested in Iran in 2018 during a trip to visit relatives.

It was not immediately clear if she was the person sentenced on Monday.

The sentencing comes amid tensions between Iran and Britain over the fate of British-Iranian mother who was arrested by Iranian authorities in 2016 as she was leaving

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was put on trial and is now serving a five-year jail sentence for allegedly trying to topple the </s> LONDON (Reuters) - Iran said on Monday it had sentenced an Iranian national to 10 years prison for spying for Britain.

“An Iranian who was in charge of Iran desk in the British Council and was cooperating with Britain’s intelligence agency... was sentenced to 10 years in prison after clear confessions,” Gholamhossein Esmaili, a judiciary spokesman, was quoted as saying by Fars news agency.

He did not identify the person who was sentenced. The British Council is Britain’s cultural agency overseas. </s> An Iranian woman employee of the has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for "spying", the judiciary's website Mizan Online reported Monday, sparking concern in

"An Iranian citizen in charge of the desk at the... was cooperating with English spying agencies," Mizan reported, quoting judiciary

He did not identify the suspect but said she had been sentenced recently after she "made a straightforward confession".

Esmaili added that the suspect, who had been tasked with drawing up and managing cultural "infiltration" projects, had been arrested by and security agencies "more than a year ago". Britain's foreign ministry voiced concern over the case.

"We are very concerned by reports that an Iranian employee has been sentenced to jail on charges of espionage," a for the told AFP.

" officials in are in touch with the to seek further information." The British Council, a cultural and educational organisation with branches around the world, said in a statement that "it does not have offices or representatives in Iran, and does not do any work in Iran".

Iranian authorities shut down the British Council's office in more than a decade ago for what Esmaili described as "illegal activities".

Esmaili said that during her confession, the suspect described how she had been recruited, telling investigators about her instructions from the "English security agency".

The said she was "an Iranian student who wanted to live and work in the UK", was hired by the British Council and "repeatedly travelled to under aliases... and made connections with artistic and theatre groups".

A London-based British Council employee, Aras Amiri, was arrested in in 2018 during a trip to visit relatives.

It was not immediately clear if she was the person whose sentencing was announced on Monday. The "safety and wellbeing (of colleagues) remain our first concern... We are in close contact with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office," the British Council said.

"We are a non-political organisation committed to people-to-people engagement, and our staff are not connected to any espionage agency." The sentencing comes amid tensions between Iran and Britain over the fate of British-Iranian mother who was arrested by Iranian authorities in 2016 as she was leaving

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was put on trial and is now serving a five-year jail sentence for allegedly trying to topple the </s> An Iranian woman who worked for the was sentenced to 10 years in prison for "spying", the judiciary's website Mizan Online reported Monday.

"An Iranian citizen in charge of the desk at the English cultural council called was cooperating with English spying agencies," it said quoting judiciary

He said the sentence was handed down recently and did not identify the suspect who "had made a straightforward confession and was sentenced to 10 years by the court".

Esmaili added that the suspect, who had been tasked with drawing up and managing cultural "infiltration" projects, had been arrested by and security agencies "more than a year ago".

The is a cultural and educational organisation overseas but according to its website it is not "physically present" in

Iranian authorities shut down the British Council more than a decade ago for what Esmaili described as "illegal activities".

Esmaili said during her confession, the suspect described how she had been recruited and provided information on "the instructions that the English security agency had given" her.

The said she was "an Iranian student who wanted to live and work in the UK" had been "employed by the British Council" and "repeatedly travelled to under aliases... and made connections with artistic and theatre groups".

A London-based employee was arrested in Iran in 2018 during a trip to visit relatives.

It was not immediately clear if she was the person sentenced on Monday.

The sentencing comes amid tensions between Iran and Britain over the fate of British-Iranian mother who was arrested by Iranian authorities in 2016 as she was leaving

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was put on trial and is now serving a five-year jail sentence for allegedly trying to topple the </s> (Hatha al-Youm | Iraq News )-Iran has accused one of its own citizens of spying for Britain and jailed them for ten years. A government official told the Iranian Fars news agency the unidentified person worked for the British Council's Iran desk. "An Iranian who was in charge of Iran desk in the British Council and was cooperating with Britain's intelligence agency... was sentenced to 10 years in prison after clear confessions," Gholamhossein Esmaili, a judiciary spokesman, has said. </s> The UK embassy in Tehran was stormed in 2011 - AFP

An Iranian woman working for the British Council has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in Iran on allegations that she spied for the UK government.

Aras Amiri, 33, worked for the UK cultural institution in London and was arrested in Iran in March 2018 while on a private holiday to visit family.

Iranian authorities announced Monday that a woman had been jailed for 10 years for “cultural infiltration by the British intelligence services in Iranian internal affairs”.

The report did not specifically name Ms Amiri as the woman being sentenced but a family member confirmed to The Telegraph that it was her.

Ms Amiri’s conviction is the latest in a long pattern of Iranian authorities arresting and harassing people it accuses of being British spies.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a 41-year-old charity worker, has been held for more than three years on espionage allegations, while Iranian authorities have repeatedly targeted employees of the BBC’s Persian service.

Ms Amiri lived in London for more than a decade and worked at the British Council on projects intended to showcase the Iranian art scene. She was also studying art philosophy at Kingston University.

The British Council, a charity partly funded by the UK government, closed its offices in Iran in 2009 after its staff were harassed by the Iranian government. The UK embassy closed two years later after it was stormed by a mob.

Sir Ciarán Devane, the chief executive of the British Council, said: “Our colleague’s safety and wellbeing remain our first concern, as it has been throughout their detention. We are in close contact with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.”

The British Council said had no offices or representatives in Iran and no longer does any work in the country.

A spokesman for the Iranian judiciary described Ms Amiri as being the head of the Iran desk at the British Council but the organisation said she was a junior employee.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are very concerned by reports that an Iranian British Council employee has been sentenced to jail on charges of espionage. We have not been able to confirm any further details at this stage and are urgently seeking further information.”
An Iranian woman is sentenced to 10 years in prison for suspected spying for the United Kingdom. A judiciary spokesman alleged that she was recruited by the British Council's Iran desk.