Benjamin Brière was arrested last year and accused of flying a drone and taking photographs in a prohibited area. His lawyer said Iran would put him on trial for espionage, which can carry the death penalty.
Iran will put a French citizen that it detained last year on trial on charges including espionage, his lawyer said on Sunday, a crime that can carry the death penalty. The French citizen, Benjamin Brière, who in his mid-30s, was arrested in Iran in May 2020 on suspicion of flying a drone and taking photographs in a prohibited area. Saeid Dehghan, a human rights lawyer who represents him, said on Twitter on Sunday that Iranian prosecutors had confirmed his client would be tried on two counts of espionage and “propaganda against the system.” “The prosecutor is preparing the indictment and sending it to the revolutionary court,” Mr. Dehghan told the French news agency Agence France-Presse. In the years since President Donald J. Trump withdrew the United States from a nuclear deal with the country and reimposed sanctions, Iran has detained several foreigners and dual nationals.
