The Foreign Office in London has denied a report from Tehran that the deputy British ambassador to Iran was arrested. “Reports of the arrest of a British diplomat in Iran are completely false,” a ministry spokesman said on Wednesday, according to the British news agency PA.

The Foreign Office in London has denied a report from Tehran that the deputy British ambassador to Iran was arrested. “Reports of the arrest of a British diplomat in Iran are completely false,” a ministry spokesman said on Wednesday, according to the British news agency PA.

“The reports that our deputy ambassador is currently in detention are very interesting…” British Ambassador to Iran Simon Shercliff wrote on the Internet on Thursday. “… He left Iran in December last year when he gave up his post,” Shercliff said on Twitter.

According to the state news agency IRNA, the diplomat was tracked down by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ secret service. He is accused of espionage. The diplomat is said to have been with his family as a tourist in the Iranian desert and took soil samples there without permission. According to the news agency, exercises of the Revolutionary Guards were held in the region. The diplomat is said to be expelled after an apology.

Furthermore, the Irna report also made accusations of espionage against a Polish university professor and the husband of an Austrian diplomat. It was initially unclear whether the suspects were taken into custody. Initially, there were no reactions from Poland or Austria.