An Iranian court on Monday sentenced to death an Iranian businessman on charges of being an Israeli spy who targeted the Islamic Republic's disputed nuclear program and its military, media said. The Tehran court handed down its sentence at a time of high tension with Israel and speculation of a possible Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear installations.Iranian media identified Ali Ashtari as the manager of a company selling communications and security equipment to Iran's government and said he had been accused of 'engaging in espionage for (Israel's) Mossad intelligence service.'
The 43-year-old Ashtari had confessed and asked for clemency after a two-day trial, the semi-official Fars News Agency said. Ashtari, who had been in financial trouble, said he had accepted a loan of $50,000 from Israeli agents, Fars said. His name indicated he was a Shi'ite Muslim but Iranian media did not specify his religion.
In Jerusalem, an Israeli government official said: 'We have no knowledge whatsoever regarding this case.'
Iran, which does not recognize Israel, has previously reported breaking up spy networks and accused the United States and 'Zionists' of trying to destabilize the country. In 2000, 10 Jews from the city of Shiraz were convicted of spying in a closed door trial that sparked international outrage. The last five detained were released in 2003.
Fars quoted Ashtari as telling the court that three Israeli agents had presented themselves to him as foreign bank representatives looking for a commercial partnership. Meetings with the agents, two of whom were called Jack and Tony, took place in Thailand and Turkey and they provided him with a laptop computer for coded communication as well as satellite phones, the news agency said.
ISNA quoted a senior, unnamed Iranian counter-intelligence official as saying Ashtari had had business contacts with the Iranian government agency in charge of the nuclear program as well as 'some defense and military centers' while working for Mossad. With Mossad's help, Ashtari at times supplied 'defective and contaminated equipment ... (and) in some instances the application of these parts led to the defeat of the project with irreversible damage,' the official said, without elaborating.