U.S. Welcomes Report Iran to Retry American 'Spy'

The United States said Monday it would be a "welcome development" if Iran's Supreme Court has overturned a death sentence for spying handed down to former U.S. Marine Amir Mirzai Hekmati.

"We have seen some credible reporting that the Iranian Supreme Court has now ordered a retrial in Mr. Hekmati's case," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.

"We were very concerned" about the death sentence, Nuland said.

Iranian prosecutor general Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei told a press conference that the sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court and the case sent back to the court for retrial, Iran's ISNA news agency reported.

"If it is true that there will now be a retrial, this is a welcome development and we hope that he will be reunited with his family soon," Nuland said.

Hekmati, an ex-Marine born in the United States to an Iranian immigrant family, was sentenced to death on January 9 by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran.

Hekmati, who also holds Iranian nationality, was "sentenced to death for cooperating with a hostile nation, membership of the CIA and trying to implicate Iran in terrorism," according to Iranian media.

Nuland said Swiss diplomats in Tehran, who serve U.S. interests in the absence of U.S.-Iranian diplomatic relations, had been unable to make contact with him because the Iranians only recognize him as Iranian and not American.

Asked if she expected Iran to notify the Swiss about any retrial, Nuland replied: "If the Iranians want to send a message to us about Mr. Hekmati, they know that the best channel for that from our perspective is the Swiss protecting power.

"That said we have never had them recognize the authority of the Swiss protecting power in this case because they don't recognize his American citizenship," she said.