IRAN - Death Sentence for Former U.S. Marine

"Iran Imposes Death Sentence on U.S. Man Accused of Spying" by RICK GLADSTONE and HARVEY MORRIS, New York Times 1/9/2012

Excerpt

Iran’s judiciary on Monday sentenced to death an imprisoned American convicted of espionage for the Central Intelligence Agency. The punishment shocked his family and was imposed against a backdrop of increasingly bellicose relations with the United States over the disputed Iranian nuclear program.

The sentence against the American, Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, 28, a former Marine, was likely to become a new point of contention, and possible bargaining leverage, in Iran’s struggle against the West over its nuclear program. A tightening vise of sanctions, which threaten vital oil sales and with them the nation’s economy, has left Tehran feeling besieged and pushed relations with the United States and its allies to the lowest ebb since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In retaliation, Tehran announced on Sunday that it had begun to enrich uranium at a second site, after having threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, a measure that would severely curtail oil shipments.

The details of the case against Mr. Hekmati have been cloaked in secrecy since he was detained in August in Iran, to which his family said he had traveled to visit his grandparents. Official confirmation that he was even in Iranian custody was not provided until last month. The White House and the State Department, noting that Iranian prosecutors have a history of coercing confessions, denied that Mr. Hekmati was a spy and called for his immediate release. The C.I.A. declined to comment.

Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council, said, “We strongly condemn such a verdict and will work with our partners to convey our condemnation to the Iranian government.”

Iran has a record of arresting and convicting Americans suspected of spying, then freeing them later after bail money has been paid. But rights activists said Mr. Hekmati’s case was the first in the nearly 33-year history of estranged relations with the United States in which Iran’s Islamic authorities had ordered the execution of an American citizen.