Iran: American spy suspect faces death penalty

TEHRAN, Iran - An American man accused by Iran of working for the CIA could face the death penalty, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported Tuesday.

In a closed court hearing, the prosecution applied for capital punishment, the report said, because the suspect, identified as Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, "admitted that he received training in the United States and planned to imply that Iran was involved in terrorist activities in foreign countries" after returning to the U.S.

The prosecutor said Hekmati entered Iran's intelligence department three times.

The report said Hekmati repeated a confession broadcast on state TV Dec. 18.

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Under the Iranian law spying can lead to death penalty only in military cases.

The Fars report said Hekmati's lawyer, who was identified only by his surname, Samadi, denied the charges. He said Iranian intelligence blocked Hekmati from infiltrating, and under the Iranian law, intention to infiltrate is not a crime.

The lawyer said Hekmati was deceived by the CIA. No date for the next court hearing was released.

Hekmati, 28, was born in Arizona. His family is of Iranian origin. His father, who lives in Michigan, said his son is not a CIA spy and was visiting his grandmothers in Iran when he was arrested.

Because his father is Iranian, Hekmati is considered an Iranian citizen.

Iran charges that as a U.S. Marine, he received special training and served at U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan before heading to Iran for his alleged intelligence mission.

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Earlier this month, Iran's state TV broadcast a purported video confession by Hekmati.

"Their (U.S. intelligence) plan was to initially burn some valuable information, to give it free so that (Iran's) Intelligence Ministry would see the good things and then would contact me," the man identified as Hekmati said.

The voice of an unnamed announcer on the video said U.S. intelligence was certain that Iran's secret services would not ignore the data. Therefore, they provided a mix of correct and false information to mislead Iran's intelligence but tempt it at the same time.

The TV showed a card with writing in English identifying the bearer as an "army contractor." It also showed several photos of the man identified as Hekmati, some of them in military uniform, together with U.S. army officers.

Before beginning his mission to Iran, Hekmati said he served as an intelligence analyst in Iraq for two years. He said his key responsibility was to identify Iraqi politicians sympathetic to Americans.

His story could not be independently verified.

Iran periodically announces the capture or execution of alleged U.S. or Israeli spies, and often no further information is released.