Iran has arrested a German national for allegedly photographing oil facilities in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, an Iranian newspaper reported Tuesday.
“A German national was arrested while taking pictures of oil facilities in Omidiyeh,” a town in the oil-producing province, the Jam-e Jam newspaper reported on its website.
The paper did not give details on the identity of the detained man or the date of his arrest.
Germany’s foreign ministry said it was aware of the information circulating in Iranian media.
“Our ambassador is currently seeking to shed light on this matter,” the ministry told AFP.
The report comes as Iran has been rocked by protests over the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for an alleged breach of the country’s dress code for women.
Iranian authorities have accused hostile foreign nations of stoking the unrest and have made thousands of arrests.
The judiciary has confirmed 18 people have been sentenced to death in connection with the “riots”, according to an AFP tally based on official announcements. Four have been executed.
Separately, Iran said Saturday it had executed British-Iranian dual national Alireza Akbari after the former defence ministry official was sentenced to death for spying for the United Kingdom.
The German foreign ministry summoned Iran’s ambassador on Monday to express its condemnation of the execution. It was its second such protest in a week over Iran’s use of the death penalty.
Two Iranian-German dual nationals are known to be in Iranian custody.
Jamshid Sharmahd is charged over a deadly 2008 mosque bombing and faces the death penalty.
Human rights activist Nahid Taghavi was handed a 10-year prison sentence in 2021 for participating in an outlawed group.
