Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, 28, is the first American to receive a death sentence in Iran since the Islamic Revolution more than 30 years ago ushered in the estrangement in American-Iranian relations that has reached new levels of tension in recent months. Mr. Hekmati’s family in the United States has insisted he is no spy and was merely visiting family in Iran.
It’s a very shocking sentence,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, a New York-based advocacy group that has been following Mr. Hekmati’s case.