While everyone remains distracted by the 2016 presidential race, with President Obama commenting on current controversies yesterday from the Rose Garden, the Iranian regime just sentenced two Americans to ten years in prison after accusing them of spying. From CNN:
Iranian-Americans Baquer Namazi and his son Siamak have been sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $4.8 million, according to Iran's official news channel IRINN.
Iran officials say five people were convicted and sentenced for "cooperating with Iran's enemies," a government euphemism that usually implies cooperating with the United States.
Siamak Namazi was arrested nearly a year ago and became the first US citizen reported to have been detained in the country since the announcement of the Iranian nuclear program deal.
This news comes just over a month after revelations surfaced the Obama administration paid the Iranian government billions in cash as part of a ransom deal for other Americans hostages held by the regime during the Iran nuclear deal talks. The move also comes after the State Department admitted in September the nuclear deal, which was signed in July 2015, has emboldened Iran's aggressive behavior toward the United States rather than improving it.