Iranian-American Detained on Fraud Charges

Iran has indicted a member of its nuclear negotiating team who was arrested last year on suspicion of spying and detained an Iranian-American on charges of defrauding people under the guise of helping them emigrate, the judiciary said on Sunday. Authorities have formally charged a dual national who had been a member of the negotiating team that reached a landmark nuclear deal with world powers before being arrested last year, said judiciary spokesman, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, Mizan News Agency was cited as saying by Reuters. Announcing the arrest in August, Ejei said the unidentified individual was a “spy who had infiltrated the nuclear team”. The spokesman gave no further details about the defendant, but some media reports have claimed he is Iranian-Canadian. Ejei also told reporters that an unnamed Iranian-American was arrested for defrauding people seeking US residence of $2.6 million. “A dual national holding Iranian and American citizenship has been arrested recently, who had swindled many Iranians, taking [money] ... to fix their residence,” he said.