"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 US 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.
Iran's judiciary said Hekmati admitted to having links with
the CIA but denied any intention of harming Iran, which has had
no relations with the United States since its 1979 Islamic
Revolution. Mutual antagonism has reigned since.
The State Department has said Iran did not permit diplomats
from the Swiss Embassy, which represents US interests in Iran,
to see him before or during his trial because it does not
recognize his dual US citizenship.
"If the Iranians want to send a message to us about Mr.
Hekmati, they know that the best channel for that from our
perspective is the Swiss protecting power," the State
Department's Nuland said.
"That said, we have never had them recognize the
authority of the Swiss protecting power in this case because
they don't recognize his American citizenship."
Hekmati graduated from a Michigan high school. His father
Ali is a professor at a community college in Flint, Michigan.
Iran, which often accuses its foes of trying to destabilise
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.
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