In Brief Status: Released In October 2019, Iranian authorities have released Hamid Babaei, 36, a PhD student at the University of Liege in Belgium, who was detained in August 2013 shortly after his return to Tehran and sentenced to six years in prison on charges of “communicating with hostile foreign governments and spying.” Throughout his incarceration, Babaei stated repeatedly that he was imprisoned for refusing to operate as an informant in Belgium for Iran’s Intelligenc