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'Confession' of Accused CIA Spy Reveals Link to US Videogame Maker
By Gar Smith
Amir Mirzai Hekmati, a US citizen of Iranian descent and a
former Marine, has been sentenced to death by a court in Tehran for spying.
According to Iranian press reports, Hekmati was found guilty of "co-operating
with a hostile nation, membership of [sic] the CIA and trying to implicate Iran
in terrorism."
Although the story broke big in the mainstream press this
week, Hekmati's alleged videotaped "confession" was actually
broadcast -- in its entirety, with Hekmati speaking Farsi -- on Iranian
television on December 18, 2011. While staged confessions are always suspect,
in the videos, Hekmati looks relaxed and healthy and he speaks quietly, in
calm, measured tones.
Although Hekmati's videotaped
"confession" was broadcast nearly a month ago, it is virtually
impossible to penetrate the Western media's info-barrier to discover what he
actually "confessed to." A Google name search only produces links to stories
from the BBC and US news agencies -- none of which contain the details of
Hekmati's supposed confession. Even a Google search for Hekmati's name linked
with the Fars News Agency (which broadcast the taped "confession")
also leads to the same dead-end. Curiously, the Google search yields no matches
for Fars -- only the same links to the BBC and Western media.
It is only by going directly to the websites
of Fars and the Tehran Times that one can track down the actual content
of Hekmati's videotaped testimony. That is what this reporter did.
One of the most surprising revelations in Hekmati's
online tell-all was his admission that, in addition to training at the
Pentagon's Bagram
Air Base in Afghanistan, he also spent time working for Kuma/War, a US-based videogame
company that specializes in combat simulations. Kuma/War has reportedly worked under
contract for the US Army but, in the transcript of his taped statement, Hekmati
also claims that, in addition to its Pentagon contracts, Kuma/War received
funding from the CIA.
Confessions of an Arrested American --
On December 12, 2011,
the <a href=" http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9007277922 "> Fars News Agency</a> --reported that the Iranian
Intelligence Ministry has "arrested an agent of the CIA in Iran
immediately after he started his spying activities inside the country."
FNA went on to report: "The arrested spy has been born in Arizona of US
and has a track record of ten years of training as a professional spy. Amir
Mirza Hekmati was employed by the US Army's intelligence section in August
2001. In his confession that was broadcasted [sic] by Iranian TV on Sunday
night, Hekmati explained his secret mission in Iran."
The following is excerpted
from Hekmati's broadcast interview:
"I was graduated from
high school in 2001 and decided to enter the US Army. It was in August 2001
that I wore the US Army uniform and underwent different military trainings of
the army". --
"When they realized
that I know a little Persian and a little Arabic, they told me: 'We want to
send you to a university to learn Arabic language.' I studied the opinions of
Iraqi officials regarding the US and the presence of US military in Iraq. Our
goal was to pinpoint those Iraqi officials who were inclined toward the US and
do something that, in case of outbreak of any incident, they support US
military. After sending our reports to US Army's intelligence department,
security and intelligence officials held secret meetings with Iraqi officials
and tried to establish closer ties with those officials."
Hekmati
then describes how, after several months in Iraq, he joined the Pentagon's
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) he worked with the Cyber
Security program.
"After DARPA, I was
recruited by Kuma Games Company, a computer games company which received money
from CIA to design and make special films and computer games to change the
public opinion's mindset in the Middle East and distribute them among Middle
East residents free of charge. The goal of Kuma Games was to convince the
people of the world and Iraq that what the US does in Iraq and other countries
is good and acceptable." -- --
In
July 2006, Hekmati claimed, he was approached by a woman who told him that she
was a "government official." She actually worked for the CIA.
"After her contact, I
successfully passed the psychological and medical tests, as well as lie
detection tests before the same CIA agent contacted me and told me that I had
to wait for their call. I was contacted by BAE Systems and I was informed that
I had to return to Iraq as an intelligence analyst. I learnt how to use secret
systems and methods for gathering information from different places and
individuals. During this period, CIA was trying to find a suitable cover-up for
my important mission." [Note: BAE Systems ,
Inc . is one of the top 10 US defense
companies, with more than 39,000 employees.]
