Iran arrests British-Iranian citizen for communicating with 'BBC and Iran International'

A British-Iranian citizen was arrested in Iran's Isfahan province on Wednesday for allegedly sharing information with foreign-based news channels, Iranian state media reported.

"The Revolutionary Guards' Intelligence Organisation arrested a British-Iranian citizen who communicated with the BBC and Iran International," the Islamic Republic of Iran's News Network said, before adding the person was born in Britain.

Tehran accuses foreign-based Persian language channels of supporting a nationwide protest movement that has been ongoing for more than two months and was sparked by the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody. 

The United States on Wednesday targeted three Iranian security officials under human rights-related sanctions, citing Tehran's ongoing crackdown on protesters in Kurdish-majority areas.

The sanctions hit two officials in the Kurdish city of Sanandaj, Governor Hassan Asgari and Alireza Moradi, the commander of the city's law enforcement forces. The Treasury said Asgari and other officials provided a false cause of death for a 16-year-old protester reportedly killed by security forces.

Also targeted was Mohammad Taghi Osanloo, a commander with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ground forces overseeing another Kurdish city, Mahabad, where additional forces have been deployed in response to the protests, the Treasury said.

At the start of this month, as many as 14,000 had been arrested in Iran during the protests.