TEHRAN -- Iran's supreme court on Monday dismissed an execution sentence passed by a revolutionary court against an Iranian-American national accused of spying for the CIA, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
"The supreme court nullified the execution sentence against Amir Mirza Hekmati and sent it to an affiliate court," said judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei without giving further details.
Hekmati, a 28-year-old of Iranian descent, was arrested in December and Iran's Intelligence Ministry accused him of receiving training at U.S. bases in neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq.
The former military translator was born in Arizona, attended high school in Michigan and holds dual U.S.-Iranian citizenship.
His family said he was in Iran to visit his grandmothers when he was arrested.
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Iran accuses Hekmati of receiving special training and serving at U.S. military bases before heading to Iran for an alleged intelligence mission. In December, Iran broadcast a video on state television in which Hekmati was shown delivering a purported confession in which he said he was part of a plot to infiltrate Iran's Intelligence Agency.
He was sentenced to death in January. The U.S. government has called Hekmati a victim of false charges.
Iran, which often accuses its foes of trying to destabilize its Islamic system, said in May it had arrested 30 people on suspicion of spying for the United States and later 15 people were indicted for spying for Washington and Israel. Hekmati's mother was allowed to see her son several times.
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The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
