been postponed until early August, according to judiciary spokesperson of the Islamic republic.
Iran Focus
Jamal Karimi-Rad, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a gathering by judiciary officials at the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, announced, The trial for reviewing the case against those accused of being nuclear spies which was supposed to take place yesterday in a Revolutionary Court was postponed until August 2 because one of the accused was ill and had to undergo surgery.
There are altogether three accused in this case, Karimi-Rad said.
The judiciary spokesman added that the second accused would be tried on August 20 and that several hearings had already been held for the case of the third individual though no verdict had yet been reached.
Opposition activists have hinted that the Iranian regime may use torture to extract confessions from individuals it accuses of leaking information about its nuclear projects abroad. They also object to the fact that the individuals are being tried in secret.
Late last August, Irans Minister of Intelligence and Security Ali Younessi announced that authorities had arrested dozens of spies including several who leaked the Islamic Republics nuclear secrets.
“The Information Ministry has arrested several spies who were carrying Irans nuclear information [out of the country”>”, Younessi, who heads Irans most dreaded intelligence apparatus, told reporters.
Younessi did not identify those arrested, but said members of the opposition Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, also known by their Persian name Mojahedin-e Khalq MEK) had passed the bulk of secrets on Irans nuclear program to foreign countries.
“The hypocrites (Iranian regimes derogatory term for MeK members) had the main role and they have boasted before about spying against Iran in a press conference in America,” he added. “We have identified and arrested dozens of spies on various grounds.”
The MeK has been the source of some of the most reliable information about Iran’s nuclear program in recent years, as subsequently proven by United Nations inspections.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an umbrella coalition that includes the MeK, first disclosed the location of two sensitive nuclear sites in Natanz and Arak in central Iran in August 2002, a move that set off a major probe by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Shortly after Younessis comments, the NCRI in Paris denied that those arrested had anything to do with the organizations previous disclosures of Irans secret nuclear program.
The IAEA has consistently criticised Iran for not declaring all its activities.
IAEA inspectors returned to Iran on Monday to investigate whether Tehran was complying with international demands that it does not enrich uranium.
