Iran sentences US man to death for spying

Mike Hoxbig

Mike Hoxbig

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Tehran - An American ex-Marine, who also holds Iranian citizenship, has been sentenced to death by an Iran judge for spying for the CIA, the Fars news agency reported on Monday.

Amir Mirzai Hekmati, 28, was "sentenced to death for co-operating with a hostile nation, membership of the CIA and trying to implicate Iran in terrorism", the verdict said, according to Fars.

Hekmati, who was born in the US to an Iranian immigrant family, was shown on Iranian state television in mid-December saying in fluent Farsi and English that he was a Central Intelligence Agency operative sent to infiltrate the Iranian intelligence ministry.

He had been arrested months earlier.

Iranian officials said his cover was blown by agents for Iran who spotted him at the US-run Bagram military air base in neighbouring Afghanistan.

But Hekmati's family in the US told US media he had travelled to Iran to visit his Iranian grandmothers and he was not a spy.

In his sole trial hearing, on December 27, prosecutors relied on Hekmati's "confession" to say he tried to penetrate the intelligence ministry by posing as a disaffected former US soldier with classified information to give.

The US has demanded Hekmati's release.

The State Department said Iran has not permitted diplomats from the Swiss embassy - which handles US interests in the absence of US-Iran ties - to see Hekmati before or during his trial.
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http://www.news24.com/World/News/Iran-sentences-US-man-to-death-for-spying-20120109

Are things escalating or is it more fear-mongering?
 
Surprising the barbaric basturds haven't lopped off his head yet, the Islamic way.
 
Shibal said:
Surprising the barbaric basturds haven't lopped off his head yet, the Islamic way.
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Yeah, they should use a drone, like America do, when murdering their own/dual citizens.

At least this guy was given a trial of sorts.

Not that I'm condoning anything, just pointing out the typical double standards.
 
Hekmati, who was born in the US to an Iranian immigrant family, was shown on Iranian state television in mid-December saying in fluent Farsi and English that he was a Central Intelligence Agency operative sent to infiltrate the Iranian intelligence ministry.

He had been arrested months earlier.
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Is it better to be arrested and kept for months before "confessing" to being a spy and being sentenced to death or to be detained for months but with no death sentence?
 
Seems anything's possible between these 2 at the moment -perhaps it might become a bargaining point in the future.
Might also backfire & give the west ammo for public support tho.
Iran also publicly announced yesterday they were pushing further buttons on uranium enrichment
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/09/iran-enriching-uranium-underground-bunker?newsfeed=true

Interesting enough to note tho
The country has been enriching uranium to less than 5% for years but began raising this to nearly 20% from February 2010, saying it needed the higher grade material to produce fuel for a Tehran reactor that makes medical radioisotopes for cancer patients. Weapons grade uranium is usually about 90% enriched.
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Because the US reacts well to it's citizens getting publically executed.

Genius move Iran. Falls into the same category as the Iraqi's saying, "We don't have weapons of mass destruction...but if you attack us we will use our weapons of mass destruction on you." It moves public opinion from "Poor Iran being pushed around by the big bad USA" to "Execute that guy and we're gonna kill you and your family and plant an American flag in your pooper."

Just lock the presidents in a room and let them duke it out.
 
Well, it's possible he was trying to spy... but you know what? None of us will ever know for certain.
All we do know is that this will just add to the tension!
 
Garyvdh said:
Well, it's possible he was trying to spy... but you know what? None of us will ever know for certain.
All we do know is that this will just add to the tension!
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Same goes for all the people America assassinates and detains (or at least a good percentage of them).
 
Shibal said:
You mean like these cases ?

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-10-12/...lab-bombing-attempt-explosive-device?_s=PM:US

http://articles.cnn.com/2009-12-25/...ks-american-airlines-flight-qaeda?_s=PM:CRIME
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Pardon, I don't think I was quite clear enough.

Obviously, there are people who do wrong, and are rightfully convicted for it.

What I was referring to were the cases where we are asked to take America's word for the guilt of the accused party (as with, for example, the detainees they are holding without trial as discussed in the other thread), in response to Gary's comment 'we will never know'.

It's obviously a different story in situations where there is evidence, and legal proceedings.

***

Those two cases you bring up though, iirc, there is a great deal of suspected CIA involvement in either one or both of those plots, will have to see later if I can find the info.

If this is the case, it's mildly amusing that you bring up cases that were essentially orchestrated by the American intelligence agencies, and then trumpeted as a great success, thank god they saved the day! :p
 
I wonder how soon the US will be releasing the prisoners they have in jails who will have no trial and will not be released. Why do they have an issue with this?

They torture and murder people all the time in those prisons but now it's an issue. As usual the US are the only country who can capture and kill enemy.
 
Whatever might be the truth here the US most definitely doesn't have any moral high ground in this arena.

But Hekmati's family in the US told US media he had travelled to Iran to visit his Iranian grandmothers and he was not a spy.
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How would they know he wasn't a spy? I'd think not telling everyone about your job and mission would be a good idea. Having a relative you can claim to be visiting sounds like a good cover story too.

The State Department said Iran has not permitted diplomats from the Swiss embassy - which handles US interests in the absence of US-Iran ties - to see Hekmati before or during his trial.
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Are suspected spies normally accessible?
 
noxibox said:
Whatever might be the truth here the US most definitely doesn't have any moral high ground in this arena.


How would they know he wasn't a spy? I'd think not telling everyone about your job and mission would be a good idea. Having a relative you can claim to be visiting sounds like a good cover story too.


Are suspected spies normally accessible?
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Nope they are not but US spies are different from other countries. The US don't have the same rules as everyone else. So if you capture their spy they think they have some sort of rights regarding how you handle it.
 
killadoob said:
They [the USA] torture and murder people all the time in those prisons but now it's an issue. As usual the US are the only country who can capture and kill enemy.
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Newsflash! The USA murders people in their prisons ALL THE TIME because killadoob says so without any facts to backup his bat f**k insane delusions! Someone call Amnesty International!
 
The_Assimilator said:
Newsflash! The USA murders people in their prisons ALL THE TIME because killadoob says so without any facts to backup his bat f**k insane delusions! Someone call Amnesty International!
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It happens though, although the frequency is obviously debatable.

In 2005, The New York Times obtained a 2,000-page United States Army report concerning the homicides of two unarmed civilian Afghan prisoners by U.S. armed forces in 2002 at the Bagram Theater Internment Facility (also Bagram Collection Point or B.C.P.) in Bagram, Afghanistan. The prisoners, Habibullah and Dilawar, were chained to the ceiling and beaten, which caused their deaths. Military coroners ruled that both the prisoners' deaths were homicides. Autopsies revealed severe trauma to both prisoners' legs, describing the trauma as comparable to being run over by a bus. Seven soldiers were charged.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagram_torture_and_prisoner_abuse

The killing is more rare than the torture obviously, which is, I'd guess, pretty prevalent.
 
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