Iran to execute alleged CIA spy, officials say

by Marty Johnson - 02/04/20 11:21 AM ET

Iranian officials on Tuesday announced that a man accused of spying for the CIA will soon be executed.

The country’s judiciary spokesman, Gholamhossein Esmaili, accused Amir Rahimpour of being “a CIA spy,” saying he attempted to share “part of Iran’s nuclear information” with the United States’ top intelligence agency, Reuters reports.

“He will see the consequences of his action soon,” Esmaili added.

In addition to the pending capital punishment, Esmali said that two other individuals were sentenced to 15 years in prison for spying and acting against Iran’s national security.

While he didn’t release the nationalities of the other two, Esmali did say that they were “working under the cover of an organization and charitable foundation.”

Iran doesn’t recognize dual citizenship, so its judiciary prosecutes those with dual citizenship as Iranian nationals.

According to the wire service, last summer Iran had announced that it had broken up a U.S. spy ring of 17 people and that some of them had been sentenced to death. At the time, President Trump responded with a tweet: “The Report of Iran capturing CIA spies is totally false. Zero truth.”

The CIA has declined to comment on both situations.