ISLAMABAD – In summer of 2019, Iranian media outlets revealed details of amajor cyber-espionage ring claimed to be run by US intelligence, sayingthat a total of 17 CIA-trained spies had been identified, publishing photoand video evidence of alleged US attempts to recruit Iranians to workagainst their government.
An individual accused of spying for the CIA in Iran has been sentenced todeath, Iran’s judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Ismaili said at a pressconference on Tuesday. The spokesman said that the Supreme Court has upheldthe capital punishment for the US intelligence officer for gatheringclassified data related to Iran’s nuclear programme.
“Amir Rahimpour who was a CIA spy and got big pay and tried to present partof Iran’s nuclear information to the American service had been tried andsentenced to death and recently the supreme court upheld his sentence andyou will see it carried out soon”, he said as quoted by Fars.
Ismaili also said that two other individuals accused of gatheringintelligence for the CIA have been sentenced to ten and five years inprison respectively.
“Two … CIA spies who were working under the cover of an organisation andcharitable foundation have been identified, tried and sentenced to tenyears in prison for spying and five years in prison for acting againstnational security”, Gholamhossein Ismaili said.
The spokesman refused to disclose the name of the individuals since theirsentences have not been finalised.
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In June, Iran announced that it had broken up a major CIA “cyberespionagenetwork” with help from the intelligence services of other countries. Thecountry’s judiciary later said that Iranian military personnel working forUS intelligence would be executed for treason, while non-military personnelwould receive long prison sentences.
On 5 January, Tehran announced that it would no longer comply with thelimits of the Iran nuclear deal, which was set to considerably reduceIran’s nuclear programme and its stockpile of medium- and low-enricheduranium in exchange for the removal of international sanctions.
The country announced that it would now start enriching uranium based onits technical needs and in a “peaceful” manner.
Trump signalled Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA on 8 May,2018, reinstating harsh economic sanctions against Iran. Exactly a yearlater, Tehran announced that it had started to suspend some of itsobligations under the nuclear deal. -Sputnik
