It's time for the United States to hold Iran accountable.

Iranian hardliners have intensified their anti-Western crackdown by sentencing two Iranian-Americans to 10 years in prison on charges of cooperating with the United States. The unjust judgments, reported by Iranian media on Tuesday, mark the latest effort by the judiciary, controlled by the country’s hardline faction, to thwart improved ties with the United States and the West after the 2015 nuclear deal.

The two convicted men are Siamak Namazi, a businessman in his mid-40s who graduated from Tufts and Rutgers, and his 80-year-old father, Baquer Namazi, who reportedly suffers from a heart condition. Siamak Namazi was detained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard in October 2015 while he was visiting family in Tehran. He once ran a consulting firm in Iran that advised multinational companies. His father was arrested in February, apparently after traveling to Tehran to negotiate his son’s release.

Iran’s prosecutor accused the Namazis and four other defendants, who were also convicted and given similar sentences, of “espionage and collaboration with the American government.” But he provided no evidence, the process is anything but transparent, the judiciary is known to be highly politicized and it is not clear if the men were even allowed a lawyer.

You can find the rest of the New York Times article by clicking here.