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via EPA, file
Iran arrested Amir-Mirza Hekmati, a 28-year-old American of Iranian descent, in December and accused him of receiving CIA training at U.S. bases in neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq.
TEHRAN -- Iran's supreme court on Monday dismissed an execution sentence passed by a revolutionary court against an Iranian-American national accused of spying for the CIA, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
"The supreme court nullified the execution sentence against Amir Mirza Hekmati and sent it to an affiliate court," said judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei without giving further details.
Hekmati, a 28-year-old of Iranian descent, was arrested in December and Iran's Intelligence Ministry accused him of receiving training at U.S. bases in neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq.
The former military translator was born in Arizona, attended high school in Michigan and holds dual U.S.-Iranian citizenship.
His family said he was in Iran to visit his grandmothers when he was arrested.
Iran on radar as Obama talks to Israel supporters
Iran accuses Hekmati of receiving special training and serving at U.S. military bases before heading to Iran for an alleged intelligence mission. In December, Iran broadcast a video on state television in which Hekmati was shown delivering a purported confession in which he said he was part of a plot to infiltrate Iran's Intelligence Agency.
Amir Mirzaei Hekmati was charged with spying for the CIA. NBC's Ali Arouzi reports.
He was sentenced to death in January. The U.S. government has called Hekmati a victim of false charges.
Iran, which often accuses its foes of trying to destabilize its Islamic system, said in May it had arrested 30 people on suspicion of spying for the United States and later 15 people were indicted for spying for Washington and Israel. Hekmati's mother was allowed to see her son several times.
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The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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They dismissed the execution because they feared the wrath of the Unite States Marine Corps.
Ok Mike- You must be joking. They (Iran) don't give a crap about him or US Marines. Have you ever heard of suicide bombers? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad does not bother himself with this kind of stuff and neither does the US. Unfortunately.
Let me guess your a Marine?
Good thing; U.S. Marine style of karma can be a b--ch !!!
fnkheehaw- Yes, I am familiar with suicide bombers. Your assertion that Ahmadinejad does not give a crap about this guy being a United States Marine, the Corps, or "does not bother with this stuff", is totally naive on your part. Remember the recent imprisonment of United States citizens for spying after having crossed into Iran from Iraq? Are you saying that such matters of intense international scrutiny are not considered from every possible public relations angle by Ahmadinejad and his government? Now add to this, a United States Marine with dual citizenships of the U.S. and Iran, do you think they just decided he is not really a spy so we won't kill him? I am sure his situation was considered in relationship to the context of current relations with the West and Israel, the increasing sanctions, etc. If they decided they could get more out of executing him than releasing him, he would be dead right now.
This Marine is a small part of the total picture, but surely he is considered in relationship to all that is transpiring at these times.
One thing is certain, should we end up at war with Iran, the USMC will not forget the treatment received by this Marine.
A few of you act as if the ex-marine has been released. It's so easy to say, well....let's do this and this, if they do that and that. Just put yourselves in his parents' shoes. You can't imagine the anguish they are going through. They are being smart by working quietly and behind scenes to bring their son home. They don't need anyone else's bravado...
And by this seemingly random act of justice, leniency.....I fully agree that there is a greater agenda. Appearing on the surface to support and respect our government. If you recall (and maybe not, because it was over 30 years ago), but messing with American citizens in the Middle East became the undoing of President Carter. Iranian hostage crisis took a President out of office who was not active in world affairs and replaced him with somebody who was willing to back up the rights of Americans throughout the world. Perhaps the Iranians, being intelligent, do not want a similar situation. They would wish that the American people, like President Obama, believe that everyone is going to sit down and talk nicey, nicey and play well together in the sandbox of the middle east (an area of the world in constant political turmoil throughout recorded history), but in so doing, they enhance Obama's approval ratings as the man goes about disassembling the American ability to defend ourselves, or anyone else for that matter.....Yep, the overturned the sentence to try to make Obama's diplomacy look more effective, so that they will not have to fear America in the future, seeking to develop their own nuclear arsenal, with which they may yet threaten the American people directly.....A launch of warhead from the middle east would take less than a half an hour to reach most major cities in the US
That didn't stop them before. I suspect that you have succumbed to wishful thinking.
I believe they have a legal system and like all legal systems it can be approached. His mother being there no doubt had an effect. But when it comes down to it if he has not harmed Iran, or killed any one it would not be hard for Iran to be lenient. And from the public relations point of view executing this individual can do a lot of harm to the image Iran is trying to establish. This lenient act will probably pay off when the two countries are in a position to exchange prisoners. I can't see Iran backing down from what it believes it has a right to do under the NPT, and I cannot see the US going to war no matter what strategic interests are involved. But I can see the US taking a smarter approach towards Iran, one that invlolves working together. The navies of both Iran and the US already work together when it comes to controlling piracy.
If he was a spy, maybe he will be traded for something Iran wants. But if he really just went there to see his grandma, he is a real dumbazz...
The total problem here is with the Islamic revolutionary guard. Theocracies are often paranoid because the tenets of the governing documents are based on superstition, and delusion. They tend to be very vain and cruel, like an old queen who paints her face with clown makeup and excecutes those who say she is not beautiful. Even the intellectuals of Iran must flatter the Islamic Republican Guard, lest the fall under the eye of scrutiny.
In order to deflect criticism they use intimidation and coercion, because the unalterable imutable tenets of faith cannot stand up to the scrutiny of science or the necessity of change. Theocratic rulers will always behave like a cornered little animal.
An Iranian American cannot even visit his family without being arrested as a spy.
The solution is to give power to right minded, educated Iranians (of which there are many). But we all learned in the "green" revolution that true choice is a threat to the vanity of the ruling Mullahs.
Unfortunately, paranoia isn't limited to theocracies. Have you noticed what's been happening in this country for the last decade? Stupid people willingly giving up their rights in a democracy as a result of irrational fear of terrorist bogey-men stirred up by their own government.
His value as a propaganda tool must be diminishing.
I wonder how intense his interrogation sessions are while being held in prison. I wish this young man luck and hope he is able to make it out of Iran with as many of his family as he can while he can.
The young Iranians want change and like the USA .I'm talking middle class not the uneducated poor.It's amazing how Face book and the internet are causing a stir in The Middle East.
As a Marine and no disrespect to the Marine that might get out of country,come home and stay home.I'm not Iranian ,but I have skiied in Iran and myGrand father(GYDO) was born in Damascus and my mother in Lebanon and I went back in 98.
Now I stay home,I hope you get yourself squared away,there's no place like home. Semper FI
Sounds pretty logical to me DogPatch 0302!
Iran has dismissed this death sentence for only one reason. They are so unpredictable and irrational that even their court system does not know what it is doing! Iran is run by a hand full of old men in beards and turbans who have absolute power over the entire country. Nothing happens without their consent, and if something like this does get past them, they can throw out any conviction and order a new trial. On the other hand, they can also convict someone of nothing (the Christian pastor who is sentenced to death is one example) and no trial is ever required. Iran is totally broken, unpredictable, unstable and very dangerous. The ayatollah still cannot recall a missile once it is launched.
Well maybe we should grab some Iranian spies and threaten to execute them as well.
Maybe we should not.
Mahmoud Ahmedinejad lost in the just held elections to Supreme Leader Khamenei. There is a shift in the winds- M>A> is being questioned in the Majlis- his 'friends' have been charged with the biggest fraud in Iranian Banking. For the sake of the young American let's hope that his sentence will be thrown out in the next court (at least the death sentence is null and void according the Revolutionary Guards paper Fars News) Khamenei paper Tehran Times did not carry any item- Mehr News is temporarily 'overhauling its English service'). Speaker of the Majlis- Ali Larijani- please release Amir- Mirza Hekmat back to his family, showing that Iranian descendants do not have to fear visiting their families in Iran.
Enough of this BULL-@!$%#, get the hell out of afghanistan, & blow IRAN to kingdom come. And also take all their oil so the rest of THE RAG HEADS won't FK with us any more !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dear Prudence,
Please be patient.
Your approach does not makes sense.
Ahhh, yet another typical "armchair" cowboy response. I put in over 28 yrs in the US Army, Tom-3738693 !
How much time have you spent in the "chow line" [not that I expect an honest answer]?
Mimi, please explain to me the nomenclature of the leadership in Iran.
In other words who is in charge?
Merci
All the blow-hards and so-called "marines" are blowing smoke as usual ... the lower courts found this man guilty and sentenced him to death of a capital crime. He is first of all a traitor to his home country and then to attempt to return and infiltrate Iran's intelligence services and do irreparable harm is in-excuseable and he deserves to be put down. I am an American with 20 years military time including two tours in vietnam so all of the braying hound dogs can just keep quiet about me ... ok! It is patriotism no matter what color it come to you fellas .. be it Iranian or American. I will now ask the impossible ... how would any of you react if a known American was working for a foreign intelligence service in a country that he immigrated to and gained citizenship from and now had returned home to do us damage? You dogs of war would still be howling over his betrayal and you know it. Stop rewarding crime and mischief with undeserved praise or condeming a country that is just doing what it can to protect its own citizens from foreign invasion. I suspect that many in here could measure their American patriotism in a tea spoon if it was that much even, yet will usually do the most howling and bellowing about the Muslims. If you want to see some really bad traitor to his adopted country, look no further than Jonathan Pollard who spied for Israel, yes that Israel, for several years and caused the deaths of hundreds of American intelligence (spies) resources during the soviet Russia years ... he is still behind bars, though the Israelis and their zionist promoters in this country constantly beg for his release.
Judson if it wasn't Amir, it would have been someone else. Amir is an American, he was born in Arizona, has dual citizenship and went in eyes open to a job that he did well. He then went home to see his ailing Grandmother...it wasn't the fact that he was a military translator that got him into trouble, it was that he was an American that got him into trouble, the Marine came after.
Say what you want, he's an American Marine, he served our country and I salute you Amir.
The ex-Marine was born in the USA. Why on earth he held dual citizens? It is stupidity on his part and his family for letting him visit Iran, a country that views the USA as her enemy. His family left Iran for a good reason, so they should know better. And he worked for the US military, a perfect reason to arrest him on bogus spying charges. Countries that do not have to accountable for rule of law often arrest US citizens on bogus charges for their own politican agenda.
I dont see how he served in the US military without giving up his dual citizenship. My dad was 28 yrs Navy and my mom was a British national that got her citizenship in the 70s. Since I was born to a military dad over in Scotland, I had dual citizenship. I was in the Air Force and had to give up my Scottish citizenship to serve. Unless he got it back again somehow after he got out. Not sure....
All that you know or think you know is what was spewed into your ears son .. don't ever believe any government especially one which has a history of invading other countries under the pretense of protecting its own citizens. Americans are the most mis-informed and brainwashed peoiple on the face of the earth. The main reason why is because we have become religious fanatics in spirit ... being too cowardly to martyr oneself but rather to send off other people to kill and to die for our beliefs. Our churches are full of people who worship Israel ... yes worship a zionist country called Israel and think they are doing it all in service to God. These people don't even worship Jesus anymore ... it is Israel that holds the keys to their eternal salvation not the risen Christ. I detest waht Israel is doing these days but they ahve good reason to not trust Washington ... and for that we all should be thankful though I secretly wish the Israelis would launch a surprise attack, just to see how much damage the Persians inflict on them in return. Am I a bit wicked ... proably yes but now and then one wants to see some truth and justice prevail not just the liars and cheaters beating up the poor downtrodden third world dwellers.
who really cares
Let's take a step back from the politics of it. This is an expression of goodwill and the man will live. I believe that's what's important. I pray his freedom will also be restored. I also pray he is in fact innocent of the charges against him.
mess with the usa,diplomacy were to slow to react..mess with china.1 million chinese come rolling over the hill slaughtering everone.they don't play games.even russia when they get checin terriorists there is no trial,,trial buy bullet in the head...cost efficiant too..
Iran has no concept of thruthfullness thay lie now just as good as thay ever have . and complain when someone kia's a scientist, and promote acts of violence all over the world. thay do not like terror on themselves only on others. What is there to say about people who would feel fine strapping a bomb to there kid . miserable pathetic dogs. we won't build a bomb, screw the gas. If we secure the future for our children , I'll gladley pay $ 5.00 DOLLARS a gallon for two years. eventually someone will sugest opening our reserves . The ones no one seems to talk about much. what pipeline