TEHRAN — An Iranian court on Monday convicted an American man of working for the CIA and sentenced him to death, state media reported.
Iranian authorities allege that Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine, received special training at U.S. bases in Iraq and Afghanistan before being dispatched on a spy mission in Iran. Hekmati, 28, was born in Arizona but holds dual citizenship.
Hekmati has 20 days to appeal the court’s decision, which comes at a time of increasing tension between Tehran and Washington.
The United States is pursuing tough sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, and diplomats in Vienna told wire services on Monday that Iran has begun uranium enrichment at an underground mountain bunker, using a process that makes uranium that can be upgraded for weapons use more quickly than the country’s main stockpile.
Iran insists that its nuclear program is for energy and scientific purposes only, not for use in atomic weapons.
Just last week, Iran warned a U.S. aircraft carrier not to return to the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, prompting strong warnings from the U.S. military against any action.
“Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations,” said Lt. Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, which is based in Bahrain. “Any disruption will not be tolerated.”
Precisely when and where Hekmati was arrested is unclear. Iranian news reports have said he was detained in late August or early September, according to the Associated Press. The New York Times reported that the Iranian Intelligence Ministry said its agents tracked the young man from Bagram air base in Afghanistan, arresting him after he crossed the border into Iran.
Hekmati’s family members, who live in Michigan, reportedly said he was in Iran to visit his grandmother.
The U.S. government has demanded that Hekmati be released and has called on Iranian authorities to grant Swiss diplomats access to him in prison, AP reported. The Swiss government represents U.S. interests in Iran because the two countries don’t have diplomatic relations.
Several assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists and mysterious explosions at military and industrial sites in recent years have prompted Iran to keep closer tabs on dual nationals visiting the country. Hekmati is considered an Iranian by the government in Tehran, because the country does not recognize dual citizenship,
Hekmati appeared on Iranian state television in December and purportedly confessed to working for the CIA. It is unclear whether the statements were made under duress.
“It was their plan to first burn some useful information, give it to them [the Iranians] and let the Intelligence Ministry think that this is good material and contact me afterwards,” Hekmati said in his television appearance.
He went on to say that the CIA ordered him “to become a source for [Iran’s] Intelligence Ministry” and remain in Tehran “for three weeks and feed them this information, get some money for it and come back.”
Iranian media have reported that Hekmati was spotted by Iranian intelligence operatives while visiting Bagram air base north of Kabul.
During Hekmati’s trial, the state prosecutor demanded “the most severe punishment” in retaliation for what he alleged was increased spy activities by the United States, the semiofficial Fars News Agency reported.
Hekmati was convicted of working with a hostile country, belonging to the CIA and trying to accuse Iran of involvement in terrorism, Fars reported.
He was described by the court as a “mohareb,” an Islamic legal term meaning he “waged war against God,” and a “mofsed,” or someone who “spreads corruption on the earth,” the AP reported.
The judge, Abolghassem Salavati, has presided over mass trials against activists before, sentencing at least three people to death after having given them similar labels.
From:
BBC
Amir Mirzai Hekmati was shown on state television "confessing" to being a CIA spy
A US man of Iranian descent has been sentenced to death by a court in Tehran for spying for the CIA.
Amir Mirzai Hekmati was "sentenced to death for co-operating with a hostile nation, membership of the CIA and trying to implicate Iran in terrorism," semi-official Fars news agency said.
The 28-year-old's US-based family say he was in Iran visiting grandparents.
The sentence comes at a time of fresh tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear programme.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that further sanctions imposed by the West "will not have any impact on our nation".
"The Islamic establishment... knows firmly what it is doing and has chosen its path and will stay the course," he said in a speech broadcast on state television.
Diplomats at the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirm work has begun at an underground site near the holy city of Qom to enrich uranium to near weapons-grade level.
Televised 'confession'
Iran says that, as a former US marine, Mr Hekmati received training at US bases in Afghanistan and Iraq before being sent to Iran for his alleged intelligence-gathering mission.
Iranian officials said his cover was blown even before he had arrived in the country, because he had been spotted by Iranian agents at the US-run Bagram military air base in neighbouring Afghanistan.
On 18 December, Mr Hekmati was shown on Iranian state television allegedly confessing to being part of a plot to infiltrate Iran's intelligence services for the CIA.
And during his trial later in December, according to Fars, Mr Hekmati admitted he did have links to the CIA, but had never intended to harm Iran.
"I was deceived by the CIA... Although I was appointed to break into Iran's intelligence systems and act as a new source for the CIA, I had no intention of undermining the country," Fars quoted him as saying.
Mr Hekmati's family, who live in Arizona, say the charges against him are fabricated and that he was in Iran to visit his grandmothers.
His father, Ali Hekmati, a college professor in Flint, Michigan, said his son joined the US military in 2001 and served in the Marines, where he was an Arabic translator.
Dual-nationality arrests in Iran
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May 2007: Four Iranian-American academics - including Haleh Esfandiari -detained for some three to four months on suspicion of spying
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June 2009: Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari detained for four months for being a spy after covering post-election unrest
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Jailed 2009: Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi detained for four months on spying charges
At the time of his visit to Iran and subsequent arrest, Amir Hekmati was working in Qatar as a contractor for a company "that served the Marines", his father was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.
The US has demanded his release, saying he has been "falsely accused".
The state department said Swiss diplomats in Iran - who handle Washington's interests because of an absence of US-Iran diplomatic relations - were not allowed to see Mr Hekmati before his trial.
Mr Hekmati has 20 days to appeal against the sentence.
'Red line'
The sentence further heightens the tensions which rose after the US said it would impose new sanctions on Iran's central bank and the European Union said it would impose an embargo on Iran's oil exports.
The West believes Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, although Tehran has always insisted its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.
But news that uranium enrichment is reported to have begun at the Fordow underground site near Qom will do nothing to ease the West's concerns, correspondents say.
Diplomats at the IAEA were quoted as saying that uranium at the site is being enriched to 20% - much higher than the 3.5% usually required for nuclear plants. Enrichment to that level makes it much quicker and easier to make a nuclear bomb.
The move at Fordow was expected, but the fact that this work is taking place underground is cause for concern to those who want to air strikes against Iran's nuclear plants.
In response to the sanctions threat, Tehran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz - a key route from the Gulf through which 20% of the world's traded oil passes.
US defence chiefs on Sunday warned that they would take action if Iran closed the strait.
Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said such a move would cross a "red line" and "we would take action and reopen the strait."
Analysis
James Reynolds BBC Iran correspondent
Iran's judicial and political systems place huge emphasis on the importance of confessions. So, for many in Iran's establishment, Amir Hekmati's guilt was proven beyond doubt during a televised confession broadcast on Iranian state TV in December.
In his televised statement, Mr Hekmati said he had been sent to Iran by the CIA to infiltrate Iran's intelligence agencies and spread misinformation. So it's little surprise that Iran's Revolutionary Court has now sentenced him to death.
The US state department says Mr Hekmati has been falsely accused, and his family say he had simply gone to Iran to visit his grandmothers.
Mr Hekmati is now expected to lodge an appeal against his sentence with Iran's Supreme Court.
It's difficult to predict how the case against him will now proceed. Mr Hekmati has a high profile and holds an American passport. A decision to go ahead with his execution may have an impact on tensions between Iran and the West - which have got worse in recent weeks.
From:
CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
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NEW: An Iranian court finds Amir Hekmati "corrupt on Earth," state media says
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NEW: His parents are "shocked and terrified"
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He was arrested in August while visiting relatives
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Prosecutors allege he was hired to deliver information to Iran
Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Iran has sentenced an American ex-Marine to death for espionage.
A court convicted Amir Mirzaei Hekmati of "working for an enemy country," as well as membership in the CIA and "efforts to accuse Iran of involvement in terrorism," the semi-official Fars news agency reported Monday.
The sentence came down five months after Hekmati's arrest.
Iran's state-run news agency IRNA, on its English website, said the court found him "caught red-handed in armed struggle against God" and "corrupt on Earth."
"In the proceedings Hekmati said he had the motivation to infiltrate (the) Iranian intelligence system on behalf of the CIA," the IRNA report said.
Hekmati's parents said they were "shocked and terrified" by the news.
"We believe that this verdict is the result of a process that was neither transparent nor fair," Behnaz Hekmati wrote in a statement on behalf of herself and her husband Ali.
"Amir did not engage in any acts of spying, or 'fighting against God,' as the convicting judge has claimed in his sentence. Amir is not a criminal. His very life is being exploited for political gain," the statement said.
"A grave error has been committed, and we have authorized our legal representatives to make direct contact with the Iranian authorities to find a solution to this misunderstanding. We pray that Iran will show compassion and not murder our son, Amir, a natural born American citizen, who was visiting Iran and his relatives for the first time."
The statement also said Iran was denying that Amir is a U.S. citizen.
Previously, the family said Hekmati was being represented by a government-appointment lawyer despite their repeated efforts to hire a private lawyer for him.
American accused of spying in Iran
Hekmati was arrested in August while visiting his grandmother and other relatives, his family in Michigan said last month.
The Hekmatis said their son served in the Marines from 2001 to 2005. Later, he started his own linguistics company and contracted his services to the military as well as civilian businesses.
His military contracts included cultural competency training. He worked with troops at military bases to promote understanding and positive communication with people of other cultures, his family said.
Fars reported that Hekmati said he worked for the U.S. Army for four years and later the CIA, where he was sent to Afghanistan and had access to secret documents.
Fars also reported that Hekmati told a judge he worked for the CIA and that he was to be paid for delivering information to Iran's intelligence ministry.
He was supposed to give his information to the Iranians in two parts -- the first part for free, and if they liked it, he would ask for $500,000 for the second part, the news agency said.
Hekmati said he was to get a receipt from the intelligence ministry for the money, Fars reported. The judge speculated whether the receipt would later be used as evidence linking Iran to terrorist activities, the news agency said.
If Iran had paid, Hekmati told the judge, he would have kept the money and lived in Iran, according to Fars.
Iran's notorious secretive trials have been assailed by human rights groups and governments around the globe.
The U.S. State Department's annual human rights report on Iran says the court system is, in practice "corrupt and subject to political influence." And while the country's constitution provides defendants the right to a public trial, presumption of innocence, and a lawyer of his or her choice, "These rights were not respected in practice."
Hekmati's sentencing comes amid tensions between Iran and the United States. The U.S. government and other Western nations have sanctioned Tehran over its failure to cooperate on nuclear issues.
Hekmati is the latest in a series of Americans to face arrest in the country in recent years.
Three U.S. hikers, also accused of spying, were arrested in 2009 and ultimately released. Sarah Shourd was freed on medical grounds in 2010; Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer were freed in September 2011.
Journalist Roxana Saberi was arrested in January 2009 and convicted of espionage in a one-day trial that was closed to the public. She was freed in May that year.
Reza Taghavi, an Iranian-American retired businessman, was freed by Iran in 2010 after being held more than two years on suspicion of supporting an anti-regime group, his lawyer said.
Iranian-American Kian Tajbakhsh was among many people arrested in July 2009, amid post-election protests and a massive government crackdown. Exactly what he was convicted of was not clear. In March the next year, he was allowed temporary release within the country to celebrate the Persian New Year. That temporary release was later extended, according to the website freekian09.org, which works for his release.