In Washington, the White House said it was working to verify the Iranian news accounts about the death sentence. ”If true, we strongly condemn such a verdict and will work with our partners to convey our condemnation to the Iranian government,” said Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council. “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. We call upon the Iranian government to grant the Swiss protecting power immediate access to Mr. Hekmati, grant Mr. Hekmati access to legal counsel, and release him without delay.”

previously

The United States had demanded Mr. Hekmati’s release and the State Department said last month that Iran had not permitted diplomats from the Swiss Embassy, which represents American interests in Iran, to see him before or during his trial.

from Iran Imposes Death Sentence on U.S. Man Accused of Spying

By Harvey Morris, for the New York Times in London, Jan 9, 2012

from the same also note, my bold:

On Sunday, Heydar Moslehi, the Iranian intelligence minister, said Iran had arrested several spies who sought to carry out American plans to disrupt parliamentary elections in March, according to Fars.

Speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting in Tehran, Mr. Moslehi said: “Our intelligence apparatus had complete information about the activities of the arrested spies. The detainees were in contact with abroad through cyberspace networks. We arrested them after we obtained full information about their espionage activities.”

An American is caught in Iran’s spy game
By Walter Pincus, Washington Post, Jan. 23, 2012

[....] As in any good spy story, there are questions: Was Hekmati coerced into making a false confession? Was he telling the truth? Or was he another innocent pawn in the covert intelligence war between Tehran and Washington? [....]

Pincus sums up a lot of facts he has dug up on Hekmati and compares them with what was said in his confession, and adds his own conclusion at the end.

Iran Supreme Court dismisses execution sentence on U.S.-Iranian
TEHRAN | Mon Mar 5, 2012 2:42pm EST

(Reuters) - 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 born in the state of Arizona, was arrested in December and Iran's Intelligence Ministry accused him of receiving training at U.S. bases in neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq.

The United States urged Iran to grant Hekmati access to legal counsel and to release him without delay.

"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," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington [....]