The 23-year-old man, named only as Mahmood, had Iranian intelligence officials’ phone numbers in his notebook and pictures of foreign and Afghan military installations in western Herat province, which adjoins Iran, an official told Agence France Presse (AFP).
Afghan intelligence had been able to listen to conversations between him and Iranian intelligence over the border, the official said.
The Islamic Republic is widely thought to be interested in uncovering any preparations NATO and US forces might be making to invade Iran from Afghanistan. But Afghan officials did not say if that was what Mahmood was tasked to look for.
Mahmood was arrested four months ago while taking photographs of a government weapons depot, local media reported.
“We find you guilty of betrayal and treason to the people, national sovereignty, independence, internal security and covert activities against the government of Afghanistan,” Judge Serajuddin Naser told Mahmood in Herat city court last Tuesday.
Mahmood, who is originally from Herat but has lived most of his life in Iran, had pleaded not guilty and continued to protest his innocence after being sentenced at the end of an hour-long trial.