Iran arrests dual national on suspicion of spying for Brits

Iran has arrested a dual national on suspicion of spying for British intelligence, it said on Tuesday, in the latest sign of a crackdown on foreigners that is likely to stir international tensions.

The unidentified individual “was working in an economic sector related to Iran,” Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said, according to reports citing the official Islamic Republic News Agency.  

{mosads}The arrest is believed to be at least the seventh of a dual national or foreigner in Iran over the course of the last year, in what some critics of the country call a growing antagonism since the implementation of the international nuclear deal, which lessened international sanctions against Iran. 

There are at least two Iranian-Americans believed to be held in Iran, and a third whose whereabouts the Iranian government is believed to have information about. 

Several Americans who had been previously taken prisoner in Iran were released earlier this year, the day before the nuclear deal went into full effect.

Among them was Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter who called the newest arrest on Tuesday the “same story as always.” 

Shortly before the prisoners were freed in January, the U.S. agreed to send Iran $1.7 billion as part of an ostensibly separate legal settlement decades in the making. Critics have erupted at the arrangement, which included details about an unmarked plane loaded with cash, and accused the Obama administration of paying a ransom for the imprisoned Americans.

Tehran does not recognize dual nationalities, preventing countries from accessing their citizens who are arrested in Iran.