American Accused of Spying in Iran Appears in Court
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ABC News(TEHRAN, Iran) — An American man appeared in Iranian court Tuesday on charges he was spying on Iran for the CIA.
Amir Mirzaei Hekmati is accused of trying to infiltrate Iranian intelligence and, according to Fars news agency, could face the death penalty if convicted. Fars reports the prosecution has applied for capital punishment in the case of Hekmati due to reports he “admitted that he received training in the United States and planned to imply that Iran was involved in terrorist activities in foreign countries” upon his return to the U.S. Capital punishment for spy crimes is only applicable in military cases under Iranian law.
“We are aware of press reports that a closed door trial has begun against Mr Hekmati,” Mark Toner, deputy spokesperson for the State Department, told ABC News. “We have requested access to him via our Swiss protecting power and we call on the government of Iran to grant the Swiss protecting power immediate access to him and release him without delay. We’ve seen this story before with the Iranian regime falsely accusing people of being spies and then holding the innocent foreigners for political reasons…the Swiss demarched the Iranians on December 24 but they refused consular access again.”
Hekmati’s lawyer, identified only by his surname, Samadi, denied charges his client entered Iran’s intelligence department three times. Samadi alleges Hekmati was deceived by the CIA, and that intention to infiltrate is not a crime.
The report says the 28-year-old Hekmati, who was born in Arizona but has Iranian citizenship from his father, confessed on state TV Dec. 18.
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