Iran Formally Charges Member Of Nuclear Negotiating Team

Iran’s judiciary has laid formal criminal charges against a member of the team that negotiated the 2015 agreement with world powers on Tehran's nuclear program.

Speaking on March 5, judiciary spokesman Mohseni Ejei said a person who was arrested in 2016 on suspicion of spying has been charged but did not name the individual or describe the charge.

"A court must conduct an investigation," Ejei was quoted as saying by the judiciary-affiliated Mizan news agency.

When Ejei announced the arrest, in August, he said the unidentified individual was a "spy who had infiltrated the nuclear team." He said the accused had been released on bail a few days after the arrest.

The Associated Press reported that Ejei referred to the accused by the initials D.E.

That could refer to Abdolrasul Dorri Esfahani, who was involved in the banking-related aspects of the negotiations on the July 2015 deal that put restrictions on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Iranian media outlets close to the hard-line conservative authorities reported last year that Dorri Esfahani had been arrested on suspiion of "selling the country's economic details to foreigners."

Dorri Esfahani, who is said to have dual nationality, dismissed the reports at the time.

Several dual nationals have been arrested in past months and kept behind bars on espionage charges.

Based on reporting by Mizan, AP, and Reuters