The phony charges are simply an excuse to seize an American hostage.

Via Breitbart:

March 16 (UPI) — Iranian authorities sentenced U.S. Navy veteran Michael White to 10 years in prison for allegedly insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and disclosing private information by posting a phone of a woman he was visiting on Instagram.

White, 46, a native of San Diego, was arrested last July in Mashhad, Iran during his third visit with the woman. White had been imprisoned at Iran’s Vakilabad Prison, known for its execution of drug traffickers, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Jonathan Franks, a White family spokesman, said the family had been told that White has been beaten and interrogated about his naval service and Iranian officials have refused to let him contact family.

Franks said that the Swiss Embassy in Tehran visited White in February after the family learned that he was detained there a month earlier.

Mark Zaid, a lawyer representing White’s family, on Thursday said he learned Monday that White, who worked in Navy Aviation maintenance administration for 13 years, was convicted in a trial without notice beforehand and given a local lawyer to represent him who did not speak English

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