UNICEF calls on to release its 80-year-old representative from prison

An Iranian-American businessman and his father have been sentenced to 10 years in prison in Iran, a state-run judicial news agency reports.

Siamak Namazi and his 80-year-old father Baquer Namazi, a former UNICEF representative who once served as governor of Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan province under the US-backed shah, were convicted of "cooperating with the hostile American government."

A Namazi family statement posted online described the sentences as "beyond comprehension."

UNICEF, the UN children's agency, expressed "deep sadness and personal concern" over the sentence of Baquer Namazi, the New York Times reports.

"The entire UNICEF family are deeply concerned for his health and well-being," UNICEF said. "Baquer has been a humanitarian all his life. We appeal for his release on humanitarian grounds."

The Mizan report said Nizar Zakka, a US permanent resident from Lebanon, also received a 10-year prison sentence. His supporters had earlier told The Associated Press about the sentence, though the Mizan report was the first official Iranian confirmation of it.