What Has Been Iran's History And Treatment Of 'Spies"

Iran Sentences An American To Death: The History Of Such 'Spies' -- Christian Science Monitor

The good news is that many Americans accused of spying in Iran are eventually released. The bad news for Amir Mirzaei Hekmati is that Iranian-Americans have it rougher.

Iran announced with great fanfare today that it had sentenced the young Iranian-American Amir Mirzaei Hekmati to death for spying. Mr. Hekmati's family said he's merely returned home to visit his grandma.

While his background (he served as a translator with the US military) suggests a return to his birthplace was unwise, giving the surging tensions between the US and Iran and the Islamic Republic's tendency to arrest Iranian-Americans – if recent history is anything to go by, Mr. Hekmati probably isn't a spy. Instead, he's just become the latest pawn in a long-running game: Iran, fueled by domestic paranoia and understandable concerns about US sabotage efforts, arrests Iranian-Americans as one of the few ways to lash out at a far more powerful foreign foe.

Read more ....

My Comment: Iran has a history of arresting foreign nationals and accusing them of spying (U.S. embassy siege and occupation being a blunt example of this behavior). Usually these foreigners are kicked out of the country after a long period of time has passed, and a ransom (or some other quid pro quo) is paid. The problem with Amir Mirzaei Hekmati is that he has dual citizenship (U.S. and Iran), with the Iranians not recognizing his American connection. Will they execute him .... probably not .... but they are going to certainly milk this for all that they can.