TEHRAN: A special court formed after Iran’s post-election unrest has convicted an Iranian-American academic and sentenced him to more than 12 years in prison, state media said Tuesday.
Kian Tajbakhsh was the only American in an ongoing mass trial of alleged Iranian opposition members and reportedly faced charges including espionage, contacting foreign agents and acting against Iran’s national security.
Tajbakhsh was arrested on July 9 during a crackdown on protesters and Iranian political figures rallying against the disputed presidential elections, which critics claimed were rigged in favor of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Tajbakhsh, a social scientist and urban planner, denied the allegations against him.
His lawyer, Houshang Azhari, was quoted by the official Islamic Republic News Agency as confirming Tuesday he received the verdict. The attorney said Tajbakhsh’s sentence was “more than 12 years.”
The report came as more than a third of Iran’s Parliament asked judicial authorities to prosecute opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. According to IRNA, 100 deputies in the 290-member Parliament supported the demand in a letter to State Prosecutor Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi.
The letter, delivered by lawmaker Hamid Rasai, a staunch Ahmadinejad supporter, said Mousavi should be put on trial because his statements and actions had damaged “reputation of the Islamic system.”
Iranian investigators are still questioning three other Americans, detained in late July after straying across the border and their fate rests with judicial authorities, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tuesday in a wide-ranging news conference.
Mottaki also increased pressure on Pakistan to crackdown on militants after Sunday’s suicide attack in the border region that killed 42 people, including top commanders of the powerful Revolutionary Guard. Iran’s state television on Tuesday raised the number of Guard members killed in the blast to 15.
Mottaki demanded Pakistan arrest and extradite suspected members of the Jundallah, or Soldiers of God, which claimed responsibility for Sunday’s suicide attack. He said the bombing had foreign roots and said the group is based in Pakistan and has “links with intelligence services and foreign forces in Pakistan and Afghanistan.”
The Fars news agency reported three arrests linked to the bombing, but gave no other details. An Iranian delegation was scheduled to go to Pakistan to discuss the case with officials.
Iran claims Pakistan aids and shelters the group. On Monday, Iranian officials said the United States and Britain also have links to Jundallah — charges denied by both nations.
On Tuesday, IRNA also quoted intelligence minister Heidar Moslehi as saying Tehran has “good evidences in the hand which show Pakistan’s intelligence apparatus has a link with the group.” The Guard’s acting commandeer, Gen. Hossein Slamai, said the Guards would hunt down the attackers “in any place of the world.”
