American Game Designer Sentenced to Death in Iran for Alleged Espionage

While I do not believe in any sort of capital punishment, this game developer should have known the risks of breaking a law in the country he was living /working in. Moreover, committing a crime such as espionage, which is serious no matter the country, should have maybe elicited more caution on his part. I hope the Swiss government can somehow get this guy out of harms way but if he did commit espionage, which is a crime in Iran, then he should be punished, just not fatally.

A thing that this article brings up is to maybe be more critical of the games we play. Is this just another modern warfare shooter set in the middle east or is it an attempt to sway your personal opinion. Although some may claim they are not affected by such mundane or "obvious" tactics, I think this sort of media propaganda does play a pretty significant role.

@014: I'm an atheist, I party, drink alcohol, and do other things your religion tells you is wrong. Yet I welcome you to the USA, greet you as a gamer, and would break bread with you if you lived in south Florida. We infidels are not all as bad as we seem.

@SuperZamrod said:

Pretty ridiculous article, Alex. You obviously know nothing about the history of US/Iranian relations and don't show an inclination as to understanding the current standoff between the US and Iran. You say these accusations Iran has made of this ex-Marine are insane sounding because of "Iran's frequent history of detaining Americans in the country and eliciting forced confessions". Excuse me, but what history does Iran have of doing this? You mean those "average-joes" who were hiking in war-torn Iraqi Kurdistan, were caught bythe Iranians AFTER they illegally entered Iran and were rightfully held with suspicion by the Iranian government, given a trial, and then eventually released? IMO, this was hardly an irrational or extreme action by the Iranians, and pales in comparison to anything America would have done to a bunch of Iranians just "hiking" around the Mexican border and inadvertently strolling into the US. Perhaps our valiant minutemen would kill them on the spot, eh?

Now, given AMERICA'S history of malevolent interference in Iran (everything from the CIA engineered '53 coup, to supporting the brutal Shah, to supporting Saddam against Iran during the Iran/Iraq war of the '80s, to the brazen shooting down of an Iranian airliner in the late '80s, to the US's constant efforts to overthrow the Iranian government since the 1979 revolution, to its sponsoring of terrorist groups in Iran like Jundullah & PJAK that kill innocent Iranians, its pushing of archaic sanctions on the country that only hurt the people and not the government, and lets not forget America's stance towards Iran's nuclear program of which there is absolutely no evidence that it is aimed at making a nuclear bomb, but yet America has constantly threatened war on the country for it and has done all but actually declare war). In light of all these facts, it is not surprising or a shock to me that this man may indeed be a CIA agent in Iran, and given what ALL nations do when they catch foreign spies (much less Iran, which is essentially under a brutal siege by the US and its allies) Iran may execute him. This is not surprising or shocking at all. Let's not forget all the innocent Iranian scientists who have been assassinated in these past few years by (no doubt) these exact type of CIA/Mossad henchmen!

People need to understand that the same people who pushed us into a war in Iraq are at it again with Iran and have staged a massive campaign of mis-information to win public support for such a war (exactly like they did with Iraq). I urge people not to believe 99% of what they hear about Iran in the mainstream media, please people, educate yourselves. Seek independent media sources (DemocracyNow is a good start) !

This.

I really hope the Swiss can help this guy. the Iranians must really be crazy to consider this a mohareb.

@Forkstik said:

As problematic as this situation is, my main frustration is actually the way the story is written by Alex. Firstly, it is a well written story, but labeling it as a news story i find problematic. It mixes objectivity with subjectivity, which is not a good thing to do, cause there's a strong possibility that people are going to indadvertedly turn on each other and we end up with some of the statements seen on this stories page, especially when it concerns a situation that is so divided and larger then this one event. Secondly, i personally think this belongs as a blog post, or labeled as a blog. Not news in the traditional sense, then Giant Bomb needs to clarify what their definition of news is.

Alex's style is editorial. According to him, there is little chance of his changing that.

@MattSchwabby said:

Shockingly, the consensus in the comments of this article on Reddit is something akin to "thats what he gets for going to Iran." Can't believe how insensitive some people, especially gamers, are being toward this situation.

For as unsympathetic and somewhat ignorant that comment is, it does reflect how much the country is satisfying its own international image of being very harsh on its enemies, especially related to the US.

No one here save for a few are knowledgeable in the area of international geo-politics, socio-political history, and other such things. As a result the comments amount to either some form of reprimand against someone (whether the US, Iran, the man, or someone else) when faced with a negative outcome of someone's life. It's natural but keep in mind that it's a complicated issue and should not be reduced to any simple moralistic arguments against or in favor of entire countries or individuals we don't know about (this was not directed at you Matt).

With that said the reality is that he was caught and confessed to contracted espionage in Iran. It just so happens part of his espionage involved contract work to make video games as a form of propaganda. I have no idea what the state of such an insurrection of anti-American propaganda (like making a game where you infiltrate the pentagon) would be in the US but definitely a serious offense in Iran. The only problem is that he's a spy in so far as his confession is concerned and we have no other evidence. We do know his involvement in anti-Iranian ideas which is much easier to argue in favor of release when the damage has been exclusively intellectual. Defamation against the state and actual espionage against it are two different entities that both could or could not be occurring. If they are I sadly fear for his chances as he will likely be executed as a spy. If not then it truly would be a sad state of affairs for someone to get executed exclusively for defamation against the state in the form of propaganda admittedly potentially against the law in Iran (I at this poitn do not know).

Iran, what the hell.

@ninjalegend: I'd break bread with you even though you made a couple presumptions about me. I have friends that don't share my life style that I hang out with. Atheist? Check. Partiers? Check. Drinkers? Check. Other intoxicating substances? Check. Other things that I don't do? Yeah. The other thing you got wrong is the welcome to the USA part. I was born here. I'm Swedish descent. I've never lived in another country. I wasn't raised Muslim either. After we get past the incorrect guesses of my persona, I'm sure we'd get along with our common interests.

Since you're in southern Florida, I'll take a stab at stereotyping you in presuming you like and own guns and suggesting we should go shooting sometime. (This is meant to be taken lightly because it might actually be a common interest.)

I can't wait for my Iran vacay! Spring Break: Iranfest '12!

@ArcLyte said:

@Mikemcn said:

@ArcLyte said:

hey religion, good job making yourself out to be the most barbaric and draconian system the world has ever seen.

I took your comment and drained out the racism. Or maybe I added more, hard to say.

i'm okay with this.

This has nothing to do with Islam or religion in general. It's a corrupt government using religion for its own fucked up agenda.

I'm sad for him. Still I think, maybe someone within the subject should make an online petition explaning the situation, and pressuring the Iran government, even if would be unsuccessful it wouldn't hurt, and would help to contest even further the Iranian government.

Oh this... this thread is brain poison. nooooo

Under no circumstances will I ever step foot in the Middle East.

Reading the comments on this article is hazardous to my health.

But I thought that Propaganda Games was shut down... I'm really sorry.

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

@Osaladin said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

And people keep saying Islam is the religion of Peace.

Will ignorance never cease?

It depends- will you ever pick up the Quran and read for yourself how "peaceful" it actually is?

Have you ever looked at the old testament? It is FUCKED. It sucks that a vocal minority of Islam gives it a bad name. While i think this situation is completely fucked, we (the US) have secret prisons all across the world. People in glass houses, yada yada.

@YoThatLimp said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

@Osaladin said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

And people keep saying Islam is the religion of Peace.

Will ignorance never cease?

It depends- will you ever pick up the Quran and read for yourself how "peaceful" it actually is?

Have you ever looked at the old testament? It is FUCKED. It sucks that a vocal minority of Islam gives it a bad name. While i think this situation is completely fucked, we (the US) have secret prisons all across the world. People in glass houses, yada yada.

I have. When was the last time YOU read it?

As much as I have had issues with Kuma and the games they make, I don't think Hekmati deserves this.

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

@YoThatLimp said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

@Osaladin said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

And people keep saying Islam is the religion of Peace.

Will ignorance never cease?

It depends- will you ever pick up the Quran and read for yourself how "peaceful" it actually is?

Have you ever looked at the old testament? It is FUCKED. It sucks that a vocal minority of Islam gives it a bad name. While i think this situation is completely fucked, we (the US) have secret prisons all across the world. People in glass houses, yada yada.

I have. When was the last time YOU read it?

Hey guess what, they are both fucked. So starting a hypocritical flame war on religion on a gamingsite seems kind of moot. Stop this shit.

@RsistncE said:

@Meowshi said:

@Jimbo said:

What's the penalty for espionage in the US?

Irrelevant. We don't consider naughty video games "espionage".

@RsistncE said:

I'm loving the Iran hate-fest going on in here. It's almost like people are being intentionally ignorant of the fact that the US has done way worse shit than Iran. Oh wait, they are being intentionally ignorant. Waiting now for someone to parrot the "BUT THEY WANTS TO DESTROY ISRAELS!!1!1!" line.

I'll bite. Tell me how current day United States policies are worse than those of Iran. I'll wait.

How is that irrelevant? Iran is accusing him of espionage and is sentencing him to death. That's the exact same penalty that the US government would impose on someone they accused of being a spy also.

No, its not. Don't you remember Anna Chapman just last year? Imprisonment until an agreement is made is one thing, executing is another. I don't believe we have executed anyone for espionage since the 1950's.

I just love seeing this jubilant state that the world is in. People are being killed without a trial, the right to free speech is diminished further and further every day, and pizza is a vegetable.

In all fairness the United States has pulled stunts almost as if not equally fucked up as this (Gitmo, anyone?), but still I fear for the state of the world. The prophecies of Orwell, Huxley, and the other dystopian writers are all coming true. God help us all.

@RsistncE said:

@Meowshi said:

@RsistncE said:

@Meowshi said:

@Jimbo said:

What's the penalty for espionage in the US?

Irrelevant. We don't consider naughty video games "espionage".

@RsistncE said:

I'm loving the Iran hate-fest going on in here. It's almost like people are being intentionally ignorant of the fact that the US has done way worse shit than Iran. Oh wait, they are being intentionally ignorant. Waiting now for someone to parrot the "BUT THEY WANTS TO DESTROY ISRAELS!!1!1!" line.

I'll bite. Tell me how current day United States policies are worse than those of Iran. I'll wait.

How is that irrelevant? Iran is accusing him of espionage and is sentencing him to death. That's the exact same penalty that the US government would impose on someone they accused of being a spy also.

So let's not sugarcoat this: what you're really trying to say is, "The US government is totally honest and forthcoming while the Iranian government is not." Is the Iranian government totally honest and forthcoming? I doubt it. Is the US government totally honest and forthcoming. I doubt it. Anyone who lives in a country that sentences spies to death needs to think a little before they start talking shit about Iran.

When you say policies I'm assuming you mean actions. I guess you forgot about Iraq and the 100,000+ dead bodies that accompany it. Whoops.

It's irrelevant because what they are killing people for isn't actually espionage. This man is being executed because he makes video games. As an aside, I don't really think execution should automatically be the deciding punishment for espionage.

And no, I'm not saying "The US government is totally honest and forthcoming while the Iranian government is not." I'm saying that the two are not comparable. The US government is about as honest as any other major world power, while Iran is a festering shithole. When we start killing our game developers, maybe you'll have an actual point.

It isn't irrelevant because you don't know if he was spying or not. Additionally the fact that Kuma admitted to doing some contract work for the US government makes the waters a lot murkier. At the end of the day, the state should never be killing individuals, but that belief of mine doesn't mean that I'm going to stand by and watch one country berate another for enacting a policy that it has in place also.

Iran is a festering shithole? This must mean you've been there right? I mean after all, no one would be stupid enough to gobble up the donkey shit the mass media shovels out on a daily basis, would they?

The US kills civilians of other nations all the time. Where have you been for the past 100 years? Since you decided that you need to start whistling and walk away from my Iraq example, how about this one?:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655

Or does that not count because the people on board weren't all video game developers?

Well dude, the article implies that it was his games which are being considered espionage. If that is not the case, then I'll drop this entire thing. Until that is proven, then I'm going to continue saying that it's irrelevant. Making politically-charged video games are not "espionage", and would only be considered so in a backwards, despicable government. You're getting upset because you're ignoring what everyone is saying. Hardly anyone has said, "Wow the government in Iran is killing people, how terrible!" Rather, people are criticizing the reasoning behind it. According to YoThatLimp, the US don't really execute people on espionage charges as much as we used to. I really don't know if that's true or not.

If you want to ignore everything all the media coverage on Iran, be my guest. Just don't expect me to pretend like it's a valid viewpoint.

I ignored your Iraq example, because I didn't even understand why you were making it. Of course civilians die during armed conflicts in a war. There's literally no way around that, especially when the enemy uses this knowledge to their advantage. How this is comparable to a nation executing someone for making controversial video games is beyond me.

My point was never that the US was honest or great. My point was that it is certainly better than Iran.

You seem to think they are equal, so maybe you are the one who should visit Iran. Maybe take up a bit of recreational wife stoning. Sounds like fun.

@ColumnBreaker said:

@Anwar said:

@ColumnBreaker said:

@Anwar said:

So because it's a video game designer I should care? Sorry if sound mean or something, but there is constantly a lot of terrible shit going on in the world and a lot of innocent people dying. I don't see how this story is somehow meaningful. Unless you're going to Iran and free this dude or boycott the oil from there, this seems completely pointless.

No place for ancient memes here, Alex? At least something good about this article.

There's your reason to care. You sound like a jaded 14 year old.

Alex should report about that.

Except this is a video game website about video games and when this shit intersects with video games only then does it make sense to report on it.

Will you stop being logical, Anwar is busy being edgy and aboveitall.jpg

Iran isn't going to execute this man. The timing of the sentence couldn't be more perfect. Iran was just hit with more sanctions that has cut off their oil revenue and sent Iran's currency plummeting. This is essentially crippling Iran's economy. Just like the North Koreans, Iran causes an international incident that brings the world powers to the negoiation tables. NK tested an atomic bomb to force food aid for their starving nation. In the last few weeks with the implementation of the new sanctions Iran has threatened to block shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz, conducted naval exercises as a "show of strength", announced uranium enrichment capabilities, and now sentenced an Armerican to death. It's all a futile attempt to earn appeasements with the sanctions. They're hurting bad, Iranian citizens realize this, and the leadership doesn't want to end up like Egypt, Libya, and now Syria.

Iran can go eat a dick.

@TobbRobb: If you wanted it to stop, you shouldn't have participated if you knew where it was going to go. Hell, I'm only ever so slightly surprised this article hasn't been locked yet.

If this is all legitimate, then it's sad and unfortunate, but it does tend to remind me a bit of those idiot hikers who were "just innocently hiking through Iran" and were picked up by the Iranian government and accused of being American spies. Of course, it was reported in America as "why isn't that silly! These are just innocent young Americans... hiking in fucking Iran in the middle of tense conflict that big terrible Iran has imprisoned! As if our government would say "yeah, so those are totally spies, dawg - our bad". (And what's more amusing is the background and skills of some of those supposedly "innocent young hikers").

So when I read a story like this, I have to consider that there may be much more than is being reported on this side of the fence. Of course we're conducting various forms of espionage in Iran. It'd be negligent of us not to. And of course, if an asset is uncovered, we're going to deny any association with the person and deny that any report of it is credible. If we caught him and exposed him as a double-spy on our side, Iran would be reporting that he was just an innocent contractor or a youth minister or a hiker and that America is fucking crazy for insanely accusing him of being a spy.

But, of course, it's easier just to take whatever is being fed to us in the AP.

@nintendoeats said:

This is probably absurd...but maybe JUST MAYBE...possibly...they are on to something...

But probably not.

I certainly HOPE they aren't on to something.

The allegations are absurd, but I'm sure the Iranian government realizes that. This has as much to do with religion as the Crusades: political posturing at the cost of human life.

It's such a tragedy that things like this are happening in any nation. The injustices people act upon each other around the world are staggering.

I'm praying that he'll be released unharmed.

----

On a much different note, every time I start to remember why I came to love Giant Bomb in the first place, a respectful or sombre thread appears and the ensuing comments remind me that the internet still is exactly that.

If this man is lucky he's nothing more than a bargaining chip and he'll be set free when the parties concerned cave to Iran's demands.

@YoThatLimp: This doesn't mean that they won't (or don't). And besides, last I checked, Iran has been releasing all (except for those that don't get publicized) spies even though they sentence them to death. Again, the point is that the US still does worse shit worldwide than the vast majority of countries. The sheer number of bodies and the amount of the blood on US hands is staggering. There's no killing machine out there like the US military.

@Meowshi: Actual media sources (not gaming sites) along with all Iranian sources (including the state) are reporting that he is being charged for being a CIA spy. Until today none even mentioned anything about video games. Stop being silly.

Also what media coverage are you talking about exactly? The only real problem with Iran (and I would say it's a big one) is their religious law and the excessively harsh penalties laid out for things like sexual behaviour, which is completely ludicrous. Yet the reality is that the US is also heavily influenced by a evangelical movement, one that guaranteed George W. Bush coming to power, ultimately resulting in the Iraq war and the deaths of over 100,000 people. You can claim that you "don't get it" all you want, but policy is policy and a result is a result. The reality is that if you knowingly drop a bomb on a house full of innocent people to kill your enemy, you are guilty of murder. Or do governments get a pass on the basic codes and morals and decency that govern everyone else?

Also: I have close friends who have been to Iran for backpacking trips and vacation. Everything they talked about and showed me (video, pictures etc.) pretty much showed off a really nice country with modern, liberal cities, with most of the backwards thinking individuals (supporters of religious law etc.) living outside of those modern urban centres. Hey wait...that sounds a lot like the US!

@mlarrabee said:

The allegations are absurd, but I'm sure the Iranian government realizes that. This has as much to do with religion as the Crusades: political posturing at the cost of human life.

It's such a tragedy that things like this are happening in any nation. The injustices people act upon each other around the world are staggering.

I'm praying that he'll be released unharmed.

----

On a much different note, every time I start to remember why I came to love Giant Bomb in the first place, a respectful or sombre thread appears and the ensuing comments remind me that the internet still is exactly that.

I don't know. The allegations are absurd, but often so is the hidden truth - which sometimes eventually sees the light of day. Think of all the absurd things our own government has been found to have been guilty of and then reconsider whether this accusation (making the presumptive leap that it is true) is that far of a stretch. We do conduct espionage and we do conduct heavy propaganda in many countries; especially all over the middle east. We also execute people who commit treason (unless they're a sexy young female spy, in which we send her back home and she joins the board of a banking institution and does sexy photoshoots for fashion magazines), just like many other countries.

So, at the face of it, this is pretty fucking horrible and terrifying. I think it's irresponsible of people to just take whatever is fed to them - especially in a context such as this - as the actual reality, though. It was mindless acceptance of "reports" that lead us to things like invading Iraq because there were weapons of mass destruction piled up all over the place, like cupcakes at a Hostess factory. Or those absurd stories we started trotting out in the American media just before we charged into Lybia. The ones that made ridiculous and unfounded claims like "Khadaffi gives his troops viagra so they can rape children!".

Of course, I'm not sure which is the more disheartening possibility. That this is all true and exactly as is being reported in the media . . . or that this is either entirely untrue or is being heavily embellished as just one more warmongering justification that we're building up on a daily basis to back our cause to take military action against Iran. Fraconsciencenkly, both kind of disgust me. It's repellant what groups of people and institutions do that no individual human being would ever have the stomach or conscience to do.

As to your other note . . . don't ever read the comments of any article ever linked to by Drudgereport. That shit is worse than the worst youtube commentary. They can take a story about a child falling off a horse and breaking her arm into a debate about Obama (tinged with racism, of course). And someone will always complain that "the article didn't mention the race of the horse, because the liberal media tries to cover up crimes committed by blacks". And then someone mentions libtards and someone mentions republithugs, and then someone quotes biblical scripture and then I go ponder hanging myself.

And then I come to a gaming website and read a barely gaming related article about a big international incident and the majority of the discussion - even if it raises questions about the validity of the reporting, like I have - is respectful and thoughtful. It must be due to all of the desensitization from all these violent videogames we've been playing for decades.

Blah blah blah America is bad. I'll assume by your spelling of center Rsistnce that you're British. You cannot possibly be that naive to think that your country does not partake in these same "shady" activities you chastise the US for, are you?

@RsistncE said:

@YoThatLimp: This doesn't mean that they won't (or don't). And besides, last I checked, Iran has been releasing all (except for those that don't get publicized) spies even though they sentence them to death. Again, the point is that the US still does worse shit worldwide than the vast majority of countries. The sheer number of bodies and the amount of the blood on US hands is staggering. There's no killing machine out there like the US military.

@Meowshi: Actual media sources (not gaming sites) along with all Iranian sources (including the state) are reporting that he is being charged for being a CIA spy. Until today none even mentioned anything about video games. Stop being silly.

Also what media coverage are you talking about exactly? The only real problem with Iran (and I would say it's a big one) is their religious law and the excessively harsh penalties laid out for things like sexual behaviour, which is completely ludicrous. Yet the reality is that the US is also heavily influenced by a evangelical movement, one that guaranteed George W. Bush coming to power, ultimately resulting in the Iraq war and the deaths of over 100,000 people. You can claim that you "don't get it" all you want, but policy is policy and a result is a result. The reality is that if you knowingly drop a bomb on a house full of innocent people to kill your enemy, you are guilty of murder. Or do governments get a pass on the basic codes and morals and decency that govern everyone else?

Also: I have close friends who have been to Iran for backpacking trips and vacation. Everything they talked about and showed me (video, pictures etc.) pretty much showed off a really nice country with modern, liberal cities, with most of the backwards thinking individuals (supporters of religious law etc.) living outside of those modern urban centres. Hey wait...that sounds a lot like the US!

You are right . What staggers me is that they now arrest game developers , and not even a well known one at that !

The dutch news said nothing about him being a game developer, they said " journalist " and that he was there to see his family. And as far as i know this man didn't even speak out much against Iran , so what do they gain by con-damming this man to death ? They made small headline's in the world , but sadly for him, he's not on the A list of people that America care's for . He's small fry at best . I hope the U.S will do as much as they can to get him home .The more because he served

as a marine and he deserve's to be brought home ! But even if he didn't serve and would be a bum in the U.S. ,they still should do whatever they can to bring him home . No matter what ! And even more if he was in contact with the government !

But for now we can only hope that he will come out alive and well and lend you're support !

If he wasn't a spy, they should let him go. If he WAS a spy, then good on him and let's get that man back home safe.

@Meowshi said:

Well dude, the article implies that it was his games which are being considered espionage. If that is not the case, then I'll drop this entire thing. Until that is proven, then I'm going to continue saying that it's irrelevant. Making politically-charged video games are not "espionage", and would only be considered so in a backwards, despicable government. You're getting upset because you're ignoring what everyone is saying. Hardly anyone has said, "Wow the government in Iran is killing people, how terrible!" Rather, people are criticizing the reasoning behind it. According to YoThatLimp, the US don't really execute people on espionage charges as much as we used to. I really don't know if that's true or not.

I can't recall the last time we executed anyone for treason (a citizen acting treasonous against the government) or espionage (meaning separate from treason, in that it is conducted by someone that is otherwise entirely an agent of another state). Aldrich Ames committed treason and did prison time; wasn't executed. Anna Chapman (Soviet spy) was uncovered and sent safely back home to Russia and became an international darling and a fashion icon, and had plenty of sexy photoshoots in magazines, and (I believe?) did a shoot for Playboy, and joined the executive board of a banking institution. Kind of a double-standard, but I'm not sure if that's because we just don't take spies seriously anymore or if we have a soft spot for super cute russian chicks (who doesn't?).

As to what it is they're really claiming is espionage, I'm not sure. Making a game sympathetic to one side or another could be considered propaganda (and in America, we'd probably call someone making a game that is pro-Iran as terrorism, because we're fucking insane). I definitely don't see that it would be espionage. Espionage is just a fancy word for spying. I really doubt that the real story behind all the poor reporting is that the games themselves are why there are charges of espionage.

Of course, most nations spy on each other and there are news reports of that being uncovered all the time. We spy on Russia. They spy on us. Same with Britain and Brazil and every other major country. My understanding, however (and I could be wrong on this) is that most civilized nations these days safely return the spies they discover, because they expect the same from their counterparts. That isn't to say you don't interrogate the spy (and that may be more severe and more frightening in some countries than others).

Unfortunately, the more paranoid and crazy countries, I fear, are more likely to just execute them for a show of power or to instill more fear into their own population ("see, the American dogs are sending spies! And this is what we do to traitors!"). And for exactly that reason, it's hard to say whether someone is actually a spy or if the country in question is just mistaken or even intentionally making false accusations. I mean, are we really going to admit someone is a spy? That would do our country harm and would absolutely do no good to the individual being accused. The only recourse is, possibly, to turn it into an international incident and manipulate the media into spinning the situation (and possibly the sentiment) such that there is a favorable outcome.

Anyway, that's kind of the whole point of spying and diplomacy I suppose, isn't it?

Not that its right, but he pretty much put himself in this situation. I would never trust a middle eastern country enough to travel there.

@AgnosticJesus said:

Iran isn't going to execute this man. The timing of the sentence couldn't be more perfect. Iran was just hit with more sanctions that has cut off their oil revenue and sent Iran's currency plummeting. This is essentially crippling Iran's economy. Just like the North Koreans, Iran causes an international incident that brings the world powers to the negoiation tables. NK tested an atomic bomb to force food aid for their starving nation. In the last few weeks with the implementation of the new sanctions Iran has threatened to block shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz, conducted naval exercises as a "show of strength", announced uranium enrichment capabilities, and now sentenced an Armerican to death. It's all a futile attempt to earn appeasements with the sanctions. They're hurting bad, Iranian citizens realize this, and the leadership doesn't want to end up like Egypt, Libya, and now Syria.

That was similar to my thinking when I first started to see this story surfacing. Well, after the consideration that he might actually be a spy, because we do have spies and if they were uncovered, we would obviously deny them. We (America) are fapping ourselves into a froth. Every day, the government and media are trotting out new (and often absurd) stories in an attempt to justify eventual military action. Anyone who doesn't see us beating the war-drum is blind or deaf. Iran isn't stupid. Either they uncovered an actual spy and are using him as a chit to strike out at us in public or they just found some guy known to have a dissenting opinion or behavior toward their government and decided to play the game against us. I mean, they have limited options right now. The entire US government (at the least) seems to be dedicating their entire resources toward stirring things up with them (because we've already gone through Afghanistan, Iraq, Lybia and are now moving toward Syria, Pakistan, and Iran). They had to do something.

Of course, the opposite is true, too. If he's actually a spy, then it only helps to support "our" cause if we deny that he is a spy and make it look like Iran is just as crazy and dangerous as we hear they are every day and it drives us one step closer to rabidly demanding an invasion.

The funny thing is that any of us believes we really know what's going on, anyway. I mean, in something as convoluted and complex as international diplomacy and espionage and propaganda . . . do we really think that we're getting the truth of the situation, here? Or that anyone is? Those things all depend on obfuscation, secrecy, lies, mis-information, manipulating the news, manipulating populations, manipulating opinions. In such a case, I think everything and everyone has to be questionable, because it can all just as easily be bullshit as it can be truth. Both sides are spewing propaganda to each other and to their own populations (and the rest of the world).

Anyway, it's all moot in the long run. It's not a question of if we're going to take action in Iran, but when and whether it'll be before Pakistan and Syria or after. My guess is Iran first. Then Syria. Then Iran.

@HyperionX3 said:

@RsistncE said:

Blah blah blah blah.

Fucking liberals. They think the world is all fluffy kindness because they have no exposure to it. "AMERICA IS EVILLLLL." Where's that fat pepper spraying cop when you need him?

This is a silly post.

This is certainly bad news. I feel sorry for the guy...this sounds really scary.

On that note, though, why are they making such provocative games in the least tolerant place in the world? Are they just asking for trouble? This whole thing could've been avoided if they were developing somewhere safer. Just saying. Not that Iran is justified in any way in their lunacy, but...c'mon, what did you think would happen eventually when playing with fire? You can push buttons in the US and other places, but not the Middle East.

@Winternet said:

Jesus fuck! The hell is wrong with the world?

Politics, yo...

This is so fucked up, calling it fucked up doesn't even scratch the surface of how fucked up this is. Going to bed angry now.

EDIT: why are you guys flaming each other over whether or not this is relevant or whether or not you should give a damn? Put yourself in his shoes. I'd want people to give a fuck if it was me. Its not a matter of guilt in this case (and lets face it, they likely made him admit to something he didn't do), this is a man's life. Should he die for making video games?

ITT: TL;DR

@HyperionX3 said:

@RsistncE said:

Blah blah blah blah.

Fucking liberals. They think the world is all fluffy kindness because they have no exposure to it. "AMERICA IS EVILLLLL." Where's that fat pepper spraying cop when you need him?

Possibly the most moronic post I've seen on GB to date. Never said the world was a pretty place, all I was saying was that what Iran does isn't really incomparable to what the US does. Done drinking that Kool-Aid or no?

@AgnosticJesus: No I'm not British, I'm Canadian; I tend use both the American and British spellings interchangably, really should settle on one. And yes, Canada has done some pretty nasty shit...that's exactly why I don't stand on a high horse and call out other countries governments unless I'm also willing to do it to mine (which I do). That was the point I was making, the fact that people here are acting like the US doesn't do comparable shit. They're also systematically ignoring the fact that Iran is the way it is due to decades of US interference in the country. Governments in general are shit; it's just that some are more shit than others.

Huh, I was aware of this for awhile, but never knew about the video game connection.
 
For those that are flabbergasted by why someone would travel to Iran, he holds dual citizenship in both countries and is in fact an Iranian American.  According to his family back in the States, he was visiting his grandmother.