Iran sentences American to death in spy case

Tehran (Iran) - Independent Maghreb Press Agency - Iran has sentenced an American ex-Marine to death for espionage.
A court convicted Amir Mirzaei Hekmati of "working for an enemy country," as well as membership in the CIA and "efforts to accuse Iran of involvement in terrorism," the semi-official Fars news agency reported Monday.
The sentence came down five months after Hekmati's arrest.
Iran's state-run news agency IRNA, on its English website, said the court found him "caught red-handed in armed struggle against God" and "corrupt on Earth."
"In the proceedings Hekmati said he had the motivation to infiltrate (the) Iranian intelligence system on behalf of the CIA," the IRNA report said.
Hekmati's parents said they were "shocked and terrified" by the news.
"We believe that this verdict is the result of a process that was neither transparent nor fair," Behnaz Hekmati wrote in a statement on behalf of herself and her husband Ali.
"Amir did not engage in any acts of spying, or 'fighting against God,' as the convicting judge has claimed in his sentence. Amir is not a criminal. His very life is being exploited for political gain," the statement said.