Reuters - A prominent Iranian academic was given an 18-month jail sentence on Tuesday after giving an interview to German news organization Deutsche Welle, according to a press release from DW.�


Sadegh Zibakalam, a political science professor at Tehran University, was charged with giving an interview to a foreign news organization in the Persian language and �propaganda against the order of the Islamic Republic and spreading false information,� the release said.


DW said it had spoken to Zibakalam by phone on Tuesday.


The charges stem from an interview the professor gave to DW�s Persian language service on Jan. 1 in which he talked about the protests taking place across Iran at the time.


Zibakalam will appeal the sentence, the release said.





Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Hugh Lawson