Article

2012-01-09 Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran sentences American to death for spying

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Posted by ryuge 2012-01-09 05:41|| || Front Page|| [11132 views ] Top

#1 "And thank you again for rescuing our sailors."

Posted by Matt 2012-01-09 08:57|| 2012-01-09 08:57|| Front Page Top

#2 So, the drama that Jimmy Carter experienced during his, a little over last year in office repeats itself. 52 American hostages, held 444 days, mock executions, until the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated, repeats itself. And guess who was one of the hostage takers? Dinner Jacket.

Posted by Slereling Angesh7135 2012-01-09 10:29|| 2012-01-09 10:29|| Front Page Top

#3 Hekmati served in the Marines and has a consulting group that promotes Iran-American understanding. He was visiting grandparents when he was nabbed. The Mullahs tortured him into a preposterous confession.

A lot of Persians try too visit Iran every few years to check on kinfolk. The state dept has a warning on this but some years ago CNN put out a 'with proper precautions, travel to Iran is safe"

Posted by Lord Garth 2012-01-09 10:38|| 2012-01-09 10:38|| Front Page Top

#4 More from The Daily Mail:

The 28-year-old former military translator, who has 20 days to appeal, was born in Arizona and graduated from a high school in Michigan. His family is of Iranian origin. He was arrested weeks into his first trip into the country when he was spending time with his Iranian grandmothers.

He is said to have received special training and served at U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan before heading to Iran for 'an intelligence mission'.

He was filmed in December 'confessing' to his crimes on Iranian state television, months after being allegedly arrested in August. But his father, a professor at a community college in Flint, Michigan, said his son was not a CIA spy and was simply visiting family when arrested.

Mr Hekmati's father, Ali, said in a December interview that his son was a former Arabic translator in the U.S. Marines who entered Iran about four months earlier to visit his grandmothers.

At the time, he was working in Qatar as a contractor for a company 'that served the Marines', his father said, without providing more specific details.

Posted by trailing wife 2012-01-09 11:01|| 2012-01-09 11:01|| Front Page Top

#5 They need all the cards they can find to play against an attack on their Nukes. Doesn't matter if the charges are trumped up or not. He is a human shield for now. But that is a two way street. If Big Zero has half a brain and didn't hate Israel so much (ask his pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright about that) Obama would green light attacks on Nuke sights if the execution takes place.

Stalemate.

Posted by Slereling Angesh7135 2012-01-09 11:49|| 2012-01-09 11:49|| Front Page Top

#6 Personally, I don't know why we need to bother ourselves at all. He should not have gone there in the first place.

Posted by gorb 2012-01-09 13:34|| 2012-01-09 13:34|| Front Page Top

#7 Another bargaining chip

Posted by Cluque Untervehr3229 2012-01-09 14:02|| 2012-01-09 14:02|| Front Page Top

#8 Why would a 28yr old risk that just to visit his gammy???

Posted by Yosemite Sam 2012-01-09 15:08|| 2012-01-09 15:08|| Front Page Top

#9 His gammy is an American spy and he was debriefing her.

Posted by gorb 2012-01-09 15:11|| 2012-01-09 15:11|| Front Page Top

#10 One of my foster daughters went to Iran with her Iranian-born father during the 2010 winter break to visit family. Both have Iranian as well as American passports; they assumed they would be safe, as they used their Iranian ones once they'd left the U.S. A number of Americans arrested for spying in Iran in the past likewise were dual citizens. So the question needs to be asked if, like my foster daughter, Mr. Hekmati had inherited Iranian citizenship from his father, and so assumed he would pass quietly under the radar.

Posted by trailing wife 2012-01-09 16:47|| 2012-01-09 16:47|| Front Page Top

#11 I work with a number of Iranian Americans and they have, to my knowledge, had no issues traveling to and from. This poor guy just got caught up in teh Mullahs and IRGC saber rattling. I suggest we quietly tell Iran that there will be open season on regime Iranians abroad if they pull this shit

Posted by Frank G 2012-01-09 18:28|| 2012-01-09 18:28|| Front Page Top

#12 It seemed that if he worked for the Marines, a trip to the Olde Country (Iran) would be a bad choice or something that the military would highly discourage.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2012-01-09 18:30|| 2012-01-09 18:30|| Front Page Top

#13 Sorry folks, the days of Pax Romana, where a citizen could walk from one side of the Empire to another, have long passed.

You have those fools that got close to the North Korean border, only bailed out by Bill Clinton's visit. You have those Cal-Berkley types, who I believe two of them are still held in detention.

Even in the country I live, Estonia, a bunch of bicyclists rolled - ON BICYCLES! - through the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon. That should have been a Darwin Award, but after 3 months after being kidnapped, they are back home. Lord knows the secret cost.

I would love to see my grandmother. But with an American passport, I am well aware that Iran is a country I can't visit until the government changes.

Posted by Mizzou Mafia 2012-01-09 18:31|| 2012-01-09 18:31|| Front Page Top

#14 I 'm sure taht Gramdma can learn to Skype. My dad can.

Posted by Super Hose 2012-01-09 19:46|| 2012-01-09 19:46|| Front Page Top

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