A court in Iran sentenced to death Iranian businessman Babak Zanjani and two accomplices for embezzlement, the judiciary said, in a case widely watched due to Zanjani's prominent role in helping the government evade oil sanctions.

The Islamic court convicted the defendants of "spreading corruption on earth", a capital offence, and ordered them to repay funds embezzled from, among others, state-run National Iranian Oil Company, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on live television.

The defendants can appeal against the ruling. – Reuters