The Intelligence Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran released a statement announcing that any cooperation with the British Council is forbidden and considered a crime punishable by law.

The statement accuses British Council of undertaking a project with the goal of “cultural network building.”

The Statement continues: “The British Council was in charge and the center of the aforementioned project which included a number of elites and individuals in the fields of education and culture who were monitored by the secret agents of the ministry from the beginning.”

The statement was released after the comments made by the spokesman of the judiciary about the "illegal activities" of Aras Amiri, a cultural activist and a student of Kingston University in Britain, who was charged with “infiltration and espionage” and sentenced to 10 years in prison for her cooperation with the British Council.

Although the British Council’s office is closed in Iran, Aras Amiri’s activities were approved by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

In her letter to the chief of the judiciary, Amiri asked: “How is it that working in an official institute of the British government who is not an enemy state but has the highest level of diplomatic relations with Iran considered as espionage?