According to the Judiciary, Kavakebian, a reformist politician, was sentenced to 14 months in prison for making “unsubstantiated claims” during a televised interview concerning alleged links between a woman and political figures. The sentence will be suspended for four years.
He was also banned from engaging in any media activities, including interviews or publishing material, for two years. The editor of the outlet that aired the comments was fined.
Kavakebian claimed in July that Catherine Shakdam, a French-born journalist and an Israeli spy, had intimate relations with 120 senior Iranian officials.
In a separate case, Tehran MP Zohrevand was found guilty of “spreading public anxiety” after making statements deemed contrary to national security during an online interview about the 12-day conflict between Iran and the US-Israeli alliance in June.
In an interview in June, Zohrevand claimed President Massoud Pezeshkian’s administration was plotting to “end the Islamic Revolution” in Iran.
He received a three-month-and-one-day prison sentence, suspended for three years, along with a two-year media activity ban.
Both verdicts are open to appeal before the Court of Appeals, the Judiciary said.
