Iran sentences U.S. citizen to death
14:46 - 9 January 2012
Kurdpa - Iranian Revolutionary Court 15 sentenced U.S. citizen Amir Mirzai Hekmati accused of spying and attempting to accuse Iran of terrorism to death, Fars news agency reported.
Amir Mirzaei Hekmati has been charged with attempting to infiltrate Iran\'s intelligence apparatus to implicate the Islamic Republic in sponsoring terrorism.
His indictment papers said Hekmati had been hired by the CIA in May 2009 to carry out espionage missions in Iran.
The 28-year-old Hekmati stood in the dock and confessed to having been deceived by the CIA to spy on Iran.
He explained that his mission was to offer Iran\'s intelligence agents valid data in return for money and to confirm payment by obtaining receipts that could later be used by US intelligence officials to implicate the Islamic Republic in terrorist activities.
However, Hekmati\'s family said ABC News that his confession was under pressure. He had received permission from the Iranian Interest Section in Washington, D.C., to travel to Iran for the first time in his life to visit his extended family, including two elderly Iranian grandmothers. Two weeks into his visit, he was suddenly arrested without explanation. Hekmati\'s mother, father, two sisters and brother all live in the U.S.
Source - Trend
Amir Mirzaei Hekmati has been charged with attempting to infiltrate Iran\'s intelligence apparatus to implicate the Islamic Republic in sponsoring terrorism.
His indictment papers said Hekmati had been hired by the CIA in May 2009 to carry out espionage missions in Iran.
The 28-year-old Hekmati stood in the dock and confessed to having been deceived by the CIA to spy on Iran.
He explained that his mission was to offer Iran\'s intelligence agents valid data in return for money and to confirm payment by obtaining receipts that could later be used by US intelligence officials to implicate the Islamic Republic in terrorist activities.
However, Hekmati\'s family said ABC News that his confession was under pressure. He had received permission from the Iranian Interest Section in Washington, D.C., to travel to Iran for the first time in his life to visit his extended family, including two elderly Iranian grandmothers. Two weeks into his visit, he was suddenly arrested without explanation. Hekmati\'s mother, father, two sisters and brother all live in the U.S.
Source - Trend
