A French tourist arrested in Iran 10 months ago, Benjamin Briere, faces charges of "spying and propaganda against the system", one of his lawyers told Reuters on Monday.
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Briere, 35, was arrested after flying a helicam in the desert near the Turkmenistan-Iran border, lawyer Saeid Dehghan said.
"On Sunday, March 15, he was charged with two counts of espionage and propaganda against the Islamic Republic," Dehghan said, adding that Briere could face a long jail sentence.
"His last defense was taken yesterday. His spying charges is because of taking pictures in forbidden areas."
Iran's judiciary was not available to comment. Last month, France's foreign ministry confirmed a French citizen was being held in Iran and said it was monitoring the situation.
"He is in Vakilabad prison in the city of Mashhad. His health is good and he has access to his lawyers and he benefits from consular protection and the French embassy officials have been in regular contact with him," Dehghan said.
The lawyer said Briere had been charged with "propaganda against the system" because of a post on social media, in which he said "the hijab is mandatory" in Iran but not in other Islamic countries.
"My colleagues and I believe that these charges are false and baseless, but we have to wait for the judge to conduct a full investigation in the next few days and announce his verdict," Dehghan said.
A person close to his family told Reuters last month that Briere, who works in the events industry, had travelled to Iran by van from France.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners in recent years, mostly on espionage charges.
Rights activists have accused Iran of arresting dual nationals and foreigners to seek concessions from other countries. Tehran denies holding people for political reasons and has accused many foreigners in its jails of espionage.
On Monday, Iran advised Britain against "politicizing" the detention of British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliff, who faces a new charge of "propaganda against the system."
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