Arrested Spy in Iran worked for French spy agency

French national Clotilde Reiss worked for a French intelligence agency, a former French spy says.

The French teacher was arrested in Iran in 2009 on charges of taking part in a Western plot against the Islamic Republic.

Reiss worked "very well" for the French spy agency, a former senior French spy Pierre Siramy was quoted by The Daily Telegraph as saying on Monday.

Siramy, who used to work for the French external intelligence service DGSE, reportedly said she was not a spy "in the classic sense of the word", but worked "à l'anglaise" (in the English style), meaning she "bravely" handed over information on an "amicable" basis for the good of the country.

"She was our representative's contact," he added.

In this sense, Reiss provided reports on domestic politics in the run-up to the June 2009 presidential election in Iran and on a nuclear site under construction next to the central town of Isfahan, where she was a university lecturer, the British paper reported.

"She deserves to be recognized as someone who worked very well (for France)," the former French intelligence agent stated.

Siramy's remarks have been denied by the French intelligence society who denied his allegations.

Reiss was arrested at Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport last year and released on May 16, 2010. On July 8, 2009, she appeared in a court hearing where she admitted that she had reported to the French Embassy and to about 50 friends and members of her family about Iran's nuclear program, as well as the country's post-election developments, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.