FILE PHOTO: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres addresses the 72nd United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 19, 2017. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for the release of U.S. citizen and former U.N. official Baquer Namazi, a U.N. spokesman said on Thursday.

The pair met on Monday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

“The Secretary-General did raise the issue and again appealed for the release of Baquer Namazi on humanitarian grounds,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Last October, an Iranian court sentenced Namazi, 80, and his son 46-year-old Siamak Namazi to 10 years in prison on charges of spying and cooperating with the United States.

(This story corrects to say Guterres met with Rouhani on Monday, not Thursday)