A French tourist who has been held in Iran since 2020 charged with espionage has gone on trial, his lawyers say. Benjamin Brière, 36, was arrested after flying a drone near the Iran-Turkmenistan border. If convicted he could receive a jail term, though his Iran-based lawyer has implied authorities are considering including him in a prisoner exchange. Mr Brière has been on hunger strike since December, leaving him very weak, another of his lawyers has said. Philippe Valent, Mr Brière’s lawyer in Paris, and Mr Brière’s sister said a verdict might be issued on Saturday. He is being tried behind closed doors in the Revolutionary Court in the eastern city of Mashhad, where he is being held. His Iranian lawyer, Saeed Dehghan, tweeted in Persian that the court had upheld charges of espionage and of “propagating against the system”. He also suggested the court might be planning to use Mr Brière in a prisoner swap, tweeting: “Using the word #exchange, they made their stance clear.” Earlier this week Philippe Valent said that his client had not been informed of the charges against him.(BBC)…[+]