An Iranian-British woman has been officially charged over her links to the opposition, not for attending a volleyball match, according to a report by the semi-official ISNA news agency,
The report quoted a statement by the Tehran prosecutor’s office as saying Ghoncheh Ghavami was active in opposition protests abroad and was in contact with foreign satellite channels including the BBC Farsi service, which was banned by Iran.
Ghavami was detained in June after trying to attend a men’s volleyball match between Iran and Italy in defiance of hardliners’ push for gender-segregation.
This is the first time that Iran has officially filed charges against Ghavami. Earlier this month, her lawyer said he had been shown a draft of the verdict sentencing Ghavami, 25, to a year in prison for “propagating against the ruling system”.
But no verdict or sentence has since been issued. The prosecutor’s statement did not refer to any conviction for Ghavami and said her case was under review.
Ghavami has twice gone on hunger strike in protest at her detention – this month and in early October – and her arrest has drawn condemnation from the highest political level.
The UK prime minister, David Cameron, underlined his concerns in a meeting with Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, in September at the UN general assembly in New York.
