Iran accuses detained dual citizen of 'national security' offenses

The unnamed suspect was arrested in July in the northern town of Gorgan near the border with Turkmenistan, ISNA quoted the intelligence services of the elite Revolutionary Guard as saying.

The dual national is "accused of links with enemy governments, acting against national security and links with counter-revolutionary elements and media".

"He was handed over to justice," ISNA said, without providing any further details.

Media reports suggested that the suspect in question was 46-year-old Robin Shahini, who was detained on 24 July.

He left Iran in 1998 and has been living in San Diego, where he graduated from the state university in May.

The US State Department has previously said it was aware of reports of Shahini's arrest and was looking into the matter.

Several dual citizens have been arrested on security-related allegations since Iran reached a landmark nuclear agreement with world powers last year.

Three dual nationals and a Lebanese man have been detained in Iran in recent months.

The four, who have ties to Britain, Canada and the United States, are all believed to have been detained by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, a hard-line force charged with ensuring the country's Islamic government remains in power. The charges they face remain unclear.

In previous cases involving dual nationals, like the detention of Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, officials initially announced indictments had been handed down without providing specifics.

Later, Iranian news organisations with close ties to security services offered details of the charges.

A prisoner swap in January between Iran and the US freed Rezaian and three other Iranian-Americans.

Tehran does not recognise dual nationality and treats those arrested as Iranian citizens only.

Agencies contributed to this report.