Iran Jails Former Activist who Returned Last Year

A former student leader from Iran's reformist movement has been jailed for six years for undermining national security and spreading propaganda, less than 12 months after returning from abroad

Serajeddine Mirdamadi "was sentenced to five years for acts against national security and one year for spreading propaganda against the regime," Ghiti Pourfazel, his lawyer, told official IRNA news agency.

"We will definitely appeal," she added.

IRNA did not disclose any details of specific acts that led to the charges and conviction.

Mirdamadi was active in student politics and later worked in the interior ministry during the first term of reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

He left Iran in 2001, only returning from France last year after the election of President Hassan Rouhani, who is seen as a moderate and who won power having pledged to push for reform.

His sentencing comes two days after reports that pro-reform activist Hashem Aghajari, a university professor, had been jailed for one year for spreading anti-regime propaganda.

Aghajari had been convicted of apostasy and given a death sentence in 2003 for declaring that Muslims were not "monkeys" who should "blindly follow" their religious leaders.

That sentence was commuted to five years imprisonment in 2004, but he was eventually cleared of all charges the following year.

Numerous reformists have been jailed in Iran in recent months for crimes against national security, raising concern about a push from the judiciary to clamp down on dissent.

Rouhani took office last August and has since led moves to re-engage with the West, principally by seeking a deal with world powers over the Islamic republic's disputed nuclear program.

However, his moves toward detente have faced heavy opposition from hardline conservatives and critics in the country's judiciary.

As well as political activists, several journalists in recent months have been convicted or placed in custody for spreading anti-regime propaganda.

The announcement of Mirdamadi's jailing comes two weeks after the Washington Post's Iran reporter Jason Rezaian, his wife Yeganeh Saleh, also a journalist, and a photographer for the U.S. newspaper were detained and placed under investigation.

Little is known about the circumstances of their arrest and no details have been released about what they are accused of, though Iran confirmed that a probe is under way.

A man who was arrested at the same time as Rezaian and Saleh has since been released on bail.