The United States has strongly condemned the death sentence handed over to an American national in Iran and denied allegations that an he was a CIA spy, saying Iranian regime has a history of falsely accusing people of being spies.
The White House called upon Iranian authorities to immediately release US-Iranian ex-Marine Amir Mirzai Hekmati, who was "sentenced to death for cooperating with a hostile nation, membership of the CIA and trying to implicate Iran in terrorism."
"We are working through the Swiss Protecting Powers in Tehran to confirm reports in the Iranian press that Mr (Amir Mirzaei) Hekmati has been sentenced to death by an Iranian court," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in a statement.
"If true, we strongly condemn this verdict. Allegations that Mr Hekmati either worked for, or was sent to Iran by the CIA are simply untrue," Nuland said.
"The Iranian regime has a history of falsely accusing people of being spies, of eliciting forced confessions, and of holding innocent Americans for political reasons," she said.
"We urge the Iranian government to grant the Swiss protecting power immediate access to Mr Hekmati, grant him access to legal counsel, and release him without delay," Nuland said.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that the State Department is working through the Swiss protecting powers in Tehran to confirm the veracity of those reports.
Carney said the US is putting a great deal of pressure on Iran broadly because of its rogue behaviour, the fact that it won't live up to its international obligations with regards to its nuclear programme.
"Those actions that we're taking in concert with our international partners have had a significant impact on Iran, on the Iranian economy. I believe it was just last week where the new sanctions, when they went into effect, had the impact of causing the Iranian currency to drop dramatically. So we work with our partners, as well as unilaterally, to increase that pressure," he said.
