A NORTH-EAST university student has been sentenced to seven years in an Iranian jail, according to reports.

Ehsan Abdoh-Tabrizi, a PhD student at Durham University, has been jailed for “insulting the leader”, taking part in protests and “having links with foreign elements”.

The sentence was confirmed by Mr Abdoh-Tabrizi’s father, Hossein, who insisted to the BBC’s Persian service that his son was innocent.

He said: “Ehsan is not a political person and is only a history researcher. He has been in prison for almost a year now and I do not [even] think anyone in the judiciary system accepts this sentence.”

Mr Abdoh-Tabrizi, a student at the university’s School of Government and International Affairs, was arrested and imprisoned in mid-January last year.

He is understood to have been held for more than 50 days in solitary confinement after being arrested following demonstrations in Tehran, where he had gone to visit his family.

Mr Abdoh-Tabrizi’s father works for the banned reformist newspaper Sarmayeh, has been secretary-general of the Tehran Stock Exchange and is reported to have been critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s economic policies.

In September last year, Durham University wrote to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, to seek information about the student’s detention.

The university said it has been working with the student's family since his arrest.

Professor Anthony Forster, pro vice-chancellor at Durham University, said: "Durham University is extremely disappointed and concerned to hear of the continued imprisonment in Iran of Ehsan Abdoh-Tabrizi, a PhD student at our School of Government and International Affairs.

"Throughout Ehsan's imprisonment we have been concerned for his health and well being and remain committed to supporting his family in securing a positive outcome in his case.

"The university will continue to liaise with Ehsan's family, to offer our support and discuss any further options which might assist with his case."

However, according to Durham’s student newspaper Palatinate, the university has been criticised by friends of Mr Abdoh-Tabrizi.

One comment on website iranian.com said the university had shown a “shocking lack of care regarding the case of Abdoh-Tabrizi”.