Former U.S. Marine and former Kuma Reality Games developer Amir Mirzaei Hekmati was sentenced to death yesterday by the Iranian government, convicted on charges of espionage. According to the New York Times, Iran alleges that the Arizona-born, Iranian-American developer was working for the Central Intelligence Agency during a visit to the country. Hekmati’s parents said their son was detained in August of 2011 while visiting his grandparents.
On Twitter, developer Darius Kazemi found a listing detailing a project Hekmati worked on while at Kuma Reality. The listing shows a $95,000 grant from the Department of Defense to work with Kuma on a language-retention toolset for soldiers. Hekmati is shown as the Principal Investigator for the project. Gamasutra has also noted that the developer’s Kuma/War series did create an episode called “Assault on Iran”, allowing players to infiltrate and destroy an Iranian nuclear facility.
According to Iranian news site the Tehran Times, Hekmati publically confessed to espionage activities for the CIA.
“After (working for DARPA), I went to Kuma (Games Company). This computer company was receiving money from the CIA to (produce) and design and distribute for free special movies and games with the aim of manipulating public opinion in the Middle East. The goal of the company in question was to convince the people of Iran and the people of the entire world that whatever the U.S. does in other countries is a good measure,” said Hekmati in his taped confessions.
The White House and the State Department have denied that Hekmati was a spy, while the CIA has declined to comment. The U.S. government has called for Hekmati’s immediate release.
“We strongly condemn such a verdict and will work with our partners to convey our condemnation to the Iranian government,” said White House National Security Council spokesperson Tom Vietor.
"Allegations that Mr. Hekmati either worked for, or was sent to Iran by the CIA are false. 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."
Hekmati’s parents have retained the services of Mitt Romney campaign advisor and high-profile attorney Pierre Prosper to represent their son. Prosper previously secured the released on Reza Taghavi, a Iranian-American businessman detained in Iran for more than two years.
"We're prepared to open up a line of communication with the government," Prosper told CNN. "Our hope is that they talk with us."
