Two female dual British-Australian citizens and an Australian man have been detained in Iran.
A British-Australian blogger and her Australian boyfriend were arrested 10 weeks ago, The Times of London reported Wednesday. The other detainee, a British-Australian academic, was detained earlier and has already been sentenced to 10 years in jail on unknown charges.
Iran has arrested several dual nationals in recent years, including five Americans still in custody there.
Relations between Iran and the West have been strained since U.S. President Donald Trump’s withdrawal last year from the 2015 international nuclear agreement aimed at restraining Tehran’s nuclear weapons program. Trump then reimposed debilitating sanctions, which have hobbled the Iranian economy.
In recent weeks, British marines seized an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar. In retaliation, Iran seized a British-flagged tanker.
The United States and Iran have shot down each other’s unmanned drones, and Western countries have accused Tehran of carrying out other attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf, where a fifth of the world’s oil production passes through the Strait of Hormuz.
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