Iran Claims To Have Arrested UK's Deputy Head Of Mission For Espionage

Iran claimed Wednesday that it detained the UK's deputy ambassador in Tehran for allegedly taking samples of soil from a region where missile exercises were being conducted.

Giles Whitaker and several diplomats were detained by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) after it was determined they took the samples in a "forbidden area" where missile exercises were carried out in the Shahdad desert in southeastern Kerman province, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim News.

It reported that the IRGC released a video showing Whitaker near the site.

The footage was broadcast by Iranian state television and it was reported that Whitaker would be deported. -