WASHINGTON – Iran
sentenced Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese citizen with permanent U.S. residency, to 10
years in prison and a $4.2 million fine after he was found guilty of “Being a
U.S. spy,”, his U.S.-based lawyer announced on Tuesday.

Zakka, an information
technology expert, was invited to Iran by a government official a year ago, but
then disappeared after attending a conference in Tehran.

State media announced in
November that he had been detained by Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards, and
reported that he had ties to U.S. military and intelligence services.

Zakka’s supporters and
his U.S. lawyer Jason Poblete have said that he is innocent of any wrongdoing.

“Nizar doesn’t
recognize this process,” Poblete said in a telephone interview. “He
was there at the invitation of the Iranian government, and he was pulled over
on the side of the road by a bunch of men. He’s been treated as a hostage ever
since.”

Poblete said Zakka had
learned of his verdict last Wednesday, and his Iranian lawyer was told on
Sunday.

“It’s 10 years in
prison and a $4.2 million” fine, Poblete said of the 60-page verdict. The
Virginia-based lawyer said he has not seen the document but was informed of its
contents by Zakka’s Iranian lawyer.

Zakka was charged under
Article 508 of Iran’s penal code, Poblete said. The code states that anyone
found cooperating with a foreign state against the Islamic Republic of Iran
faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

Iran’s vice president for
women and family affairs, Shahindokht Molaverdi, invited Zakka to attend a
conference on women’s entrepreneurship in September 2015, according to a copy
of a signed letter from Molaverdi provided by Poblete.

Amnesty International
said last week that Zakka’s health was deteriorating in his detention in
Tehran’s Evin Prison but authorities were denying him medical care.

In a statement, Poblete
called on U.S. officials to use the visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
to the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York this week to
ask for Zakka’s unconditional release.

Zakka, who lives in Washington and
holds resident status in the U.S., leads the Arab ICT Organization, or IJMA3,
an industry consortium from 13 countries that advocates for information
technology in the region.

Zakka disappeared Sept. 18, 2015,
during his fifth trip to Iran.

He had been invited to attend a
conference at which President Hassan Rouhani spoke of providing more economic
opportunities for women and sustainable development.

On Nov. 3, Iranian state television
aired a report saying he was in custody and calling him a spy with “deep links”
with U.S. intelligence services.

It also showed what it described as
a damning photo of Zakka and three other men in army-style uniforms, two with
flags and two with rifles on their shoulders. But that turned out to be from a
homecoming event at Zakka’s prep school, the Riverside Military Academy in
Georgia, according to the school’s president.

-Reuters