Iran has issued a death sentence on a U.S born game designer called Amir Mirza-Hekmati. He was apparently accused of spying on the country and designing propaganda games. He used to work for Kuma Reality Games

The twist here is that the game designer confessed to spying and designing such games to spread pro-US propaganda via a taped broadcast. He said that the CIA had paid him to do that in a written statement.

The Tehran Times published all the details of the said confession.

“[Kuma] was receiving money from the CIA to (produce) and design and distribute for free special movies and games with the aim of manipulating public opinion in the Middle East,” Hekmati said.

“The goal of the company in question was to convince the people of Iran and the people of the entire world that whatever the U.S. does in other countries is a good measure.”

This news comes at a time when Iran has recently started enriching Uranium in an underground bunker, so the tensions between the country and U.S are at an all time high. The CIA didn’t comment on this situation but a White House official did.

“We strongly condemn such a verdict and will work with our partners to convey our condemnation to the Iranian government.”

“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, 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.”

Kuma also released a game called ‘Assault on Iran‘, where players were sent into Iranian Nuclear facilities to find evidence of Uranium enrichment. Looks like the game is totally pointless now, eh?

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

[Gamasutra]

Uh, so, Battlefield 3 has been banned in Iran, both the legitimate copies and the pirated copies. The reason should be obvious to many, right? In case, you don’t know, it’s because the game contains many scenarios where the US soldiers set foot in Iran. It also contains a few levels called ‘Tehran Highway’ and ‘Grand Bazaar’.

Iran’s police department called the game “illegal”. “All computer stores are prohibited from selling this illegal game,” they said.

EA’s released a statement, although, there is no authorized reseller for EA in Iran.

“In that Battlefield 3 is not available for purchase in Iran, we can only hope the ban will help prevent pirated copies reaching consumers there,” commented an EA employee when quizzed by Gamespot.

I think all of this is pretty pointless, don’t know why people even bother with trivial things like these.

Thanks, Gamespot.