According to Reuters reported on July 7, Iranian state television reported on Wednesday that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps detained several foreigners, including Giles Whitaker, the second-ranking diplomat at the British Embassy in Iran. Giles Whitaker, for allegedly engaging in espionage activities such as collecting soil samples in restricted areas.
Source: Screenshot of the report
Reuters stated that the Iranian state television report did not specify when they were arrested or whether they were still detained. The British side stated that the reports involving British diplomats were "completely untrue." The
report quoted Iranian state television as saying, "These spies collected soil samples in the central desert of Iran, where the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is conducting missile exercises." The station also aired footage purportedly showing Whitaker and his family in central Iran, where video footage appeared to show Whitaker taking soil samples. Iranian state television stated that the incident took place near the missile test area, and "Whitaker was expelled from the city after apologizing."
Reuters reported that a spokesman for the British Foreign Office said: "Reports about the arrest of a British diplomat in Iran are completely untrue."
The report pointed out that one of the detained foreigners was confirmed by Iranian state television to be Austrian The husband of a cultural attaché at the embassy in Iran. Austria officials did not immediately comment on the matter.
Reuters said that Iranian state television also showed photos of a third foreigner, Maciej Walczak, who was a professor at a university in Poland and who was said to be a tourist. Identity to visit Iran. The TV station said that Walchak and three colleagues collected soil samples in another area after traveling to Iran to participate in a scientific exchange project, and that their soil sample collection activities coincided with missile testing activities in Iran's southern Kerman province.
edit(ZQ)
