U.S. resident gets 10-year Iran prison sentence

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A permanent U.S. resident detained for a year in Iran over spying allegations has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and a $4.2 million fine, his supporters said Tuesday, part of a wide crackdown on those with foreign ties that followed the nuclear deal.

The sentence for Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese citizen who advocates for internet freedom and whose nonprofit group did work for the U.S. government, comes ahead of Iranian officials attending the U.N. General Assembly this week in New York.

“There’s no regard for any international order, any international agreement or any international state of relations that they care about,” said David Ramadan, a former Virginia state legislator who co-founded a group called Friends of Nizar Zakka.

A statement Tuesday from Jason Poblete, a U.S. lawyer representing Zakka, said a Revolutionary Court in Tehran handed down the sentence in a 60-page verdict that Zakka’s supporters have yet to see. Amnesty International has said Zakka had only two court hearings before the ruling and received only limited legal assistance before the court, a closed-door tribunal that handles cases involving alleged attempts to overthrow the government.

Zakka, who lives in Washington and holds U.S. resident status, leads the Arab ICT Organization, or IJMA3, an industry consortium from 13 countries that advocates for information technology in the region. Zakka disappeared Sept. 18, 2015, during his fifth trip to Iran. He had been invited to attend a conference where President Hassan Rouhani spoke of providing more economic opportunities for women and sustainable development.