New defence at Iran 'spy' trial

Javid Bent Yakob (right) consults his lawyer at the court

By Jim Muir in Tehran

Another of the 13 Iranian Jews accused of spying for Israel has appeared in court in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz.

Lawyers said that Javid Bent Yakob had admitted to gathering information for the Israelis, but denied being aware that he was spying.

Nine other Jews have been held behind closed doors in the revolutionary court since the trial began on 1 May. Seven of them have admitted spying charges.

The case has provoked widespread international concern.

One of the 13 accused embraces his mother during a family visit

All 10 of the Jews who are actually being held in custody have now been heard behind closed doors at the revolutionary court in Shiraz.

Mr Bent Yakob, a 41-year-old shopkeeper, was the last to appear at this seventh session. He faced an array of six charges of involvement in an espionage network, working on behalf of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.

Jewish religious group

According to lawyers who attended the hearing, Mr Bent Yakob admitted that he had belonged to a Jewish religious group which collected information and transmitted it to Israel.

He said he had also been passing on photographs of military installations. But he denied that he was aware that this amounted to espionage, or that it was harmful to Iran's national security.

Prayers for the accused by Shiraz Jews

So of the 10 who have so far been heard, seven have made more or less straightforward confessions that they were spying for Israel.

Two, including Mr Bent Yakob, have made partial admissions, and just one has denied the charges altogether.

Three other Jews who were earlier released on bail are to appear before the court at a later hearing.

'Contradictions'

Defence lawyers are hoping that all defendants might then be assembled for a session that would try to resolve some of the contradictions they say have appeared during the trial.

The defence is arguing that the confessions made by the suspects do not constitute grounds for conviction. They are demanding that the court produce evidence. They are also arguing that the information the defendants admit to passing to Israel was not classified, and that their activities did not therefore amount to espionage.