Iran Sentences Man to Death for Spying for Israel

The report has prompted tough statements of military preparedness from Iranian commanders.

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.”

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.

Source

2008-06-30