Iran says German cyclist was arrested for espionage – DW – 06/21/2025
A German national has been in custody for a year, accused of gathering sensitive information of Iranian nuclear facilities, Iran has said for the first time.
Iran acknowledged on Saturday that a German cyclist had been detained on allegations of spying.
The man has been accused of recording and transmitting coordinates and locations of sensitive military and nuclear facilities, Iranian news agency Mehr reported.
The agency posted a video on Telegram purportedly showing the arrest of the young cyclist in the northwestern province of Markazi near the Arak nuclear facility.
He was reportedly arrested last year and has since been held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, home to foreigners and political prisoners.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Int'l Business Times
5 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
Protesters Slam War Profiteering, Israel At French Air Fair
Thousands marched on Saturday outside a French trade fair, calling for an end to war profiteering and Israel's offensive in Gaza in the latest demonstration to hit the event. The long-planned protest at the Paris Air Show outside the French capital also comes as Israel's war with Iran drags on into a ninth day, with Tehran threatening to hit back in force at Israel's offensive against its arch-rival. The presence of Israeli defence firms at the show has already become a bone of contention, with the French government on Monday sealing off the booths of five Israeli firms on the grounds that they were displaying offensive weapons that could be used in Gaza. "Their wars, their profits, our deaths, stop the genocide in Palestine," read the banner at the head of the march, which organisers claimed drew more than 4,000 protesters. "As we speak, people are dying and our governments are not doing anything to stop it," Nora, 29, told AFP at the protest. Draped in a Palestinian flag, the project leader in the pharmaceutical industry said that she felt "rage" at the footage coming out of Gaza, including that of "mothers kissing their dead children" in the besieged Palestinian territory. Police have arrested seven people aiming to disrupt the trade fair, the Paris public prosecutor office said, with officers discovering a helium canister and nearly 200 balloons during the searches. Six of the arrests were made on Friday and the other on Saturday, the prosecutor's office added. Drawing some 100,000 visitors a day, the Paris Air Show at the Le Bourget airfield, nine kilometres (five miles) to the north of the capital, is usually dominated by displays of the aerospace industry's latest cutting-edge planes. But Monday's shuttering of the stands of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Rafael, UVision and Elbit, as well as Aeronautics, which make drones and guided bombs and missiles, sparked a row with Israel. Israel's President Isaac Herzog branded Paris's closure of the Israeli firms' booths "outrageous", comparing it to "creating an Israeli ghetto". It came days after Israel, claiming Iran was on the verge of obtaining a nuclear bomb, launched a surprise barrage on June 13 which killed top Iranian commanders and nuclear scientists. Tehran immediately hit back with a flurry of missiles, with the two countries trading wave after wave of devastating strikes since.
DW
10 hours ago
- DW
Iran says German cyclist was arrested for espionage – DW – 06/21/2025
A German national has been in custody for a year, accused of gathering sensitive information of Iranian nuclear facilities, Iran has said for the first time. Iran acknowledged on Saturday that a German cyclist had been detained on allegations of spying. The man has been accused of recording and transmitting coordinates and locations of sensitive military and nuclear facilities, Iranian news agency Mehr reported. The agency posted a video on Telegram purportedly showing the arrest of the young cyclist in the northwestern province of Markazi near the Arak nuclear facility. He was reportedly arrested last year and has since been held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, home to foreigners and political prisoners.
Int'l Business Times
2 days ago
- Int'l Business Times
France Softens Restrictions For Telegram Founder Durov: Judicial Source
Telegram founder Pavel Durov's judicial control has been relaxed, with the Russian-born entrepreneur now allowed to live in Dubai for a maximum of two weeks at a time, a judicial source said on Thursday. Durov, 40, was sensationally detained in Paris in 2024 and is under formal investigation by French authorities over illegal content on his popular messaging service. In March, Durov was allowed to leave France for the first time since his arrest and travel to Dubai, where his company is based and his family lives. According to the judicial source, on Thursday Durov was authorised "to leave metropolitan France for a maximum of 14 consecutive days, subject to informing the investigating judge one week in advance." The measure, which takes effect from July 10, allows him only to travel to Dubai. According to the judicial source, his identity documents and passport will be returned to him on that date, while the other obligations of his judicial supervision, including a bail, will remain in place. "The judicial supervision obligations imposed on Pavel Durov had become unfounded and totally disproportionate, as were the charges brought by the prosecutor," said David-Olivier Kaminski, one of Durov's lawyers. Durov's recent requests to travel to the United States and Norway have however been denied. In an interview with Le Point published on Wednesday, Durov said the ban on leaving France affected him "enormously" and denounced the charges against him as "completely absurd." Durov has been accused of "complicity" in running an online platform that allowed illicit transactions, child sex abuse images and other illegal content, claims he denies. "I have a newborn son and I am missing the first months of his life," Durov said, adding that his parents had health problems. "It seems that I am already being punished at this stage by being banned from leaving the country," he said. Durov also told Le Point that he was "very disappointed" with the policies of President Emmanuel Macron, who granted Durov French citizenship. "I had high hopes for him," Durov said. "For a long time, he would send me messages on Telegram about all sorts of things," Durov added. Durov has recently accused France's foreign intelligence service of seeking to meddle in Romania's election, claims the DGSE has denied. When he published his allegations, Macron sent him a message, Durov said, adding: "I didn't reply."
