Iran sentences journalist to death on terrorism charge

The Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran: Iran said Tuesday that it had sentenced an education activist and journalist to death for his alleged involvement in terrorism.

Yaghoob Mirnehad, a journalist who also ran a charity apparently focused on improving childhood education in Iran, was sentenced to death "because of his membership in the terrorist Jundallah group as well as for crimes against national security," Ali Reza Jamshidi, spokesman for Iran's judiciary, told reporters Tuesday.

Earlier this month, local Web sites reported that Mirnehad had been sentenced to death, but Jamshidi's comments were the first official confirmation from the Iranian government.

Jamshidi said Mirnehad could appeal his sentence to Iran's Supreme Court. He did not give details on Mirnehad's alleged terrorism activity, nor whether his charity was involved.

Mirnehad reported for a Tehran-based daily newspaper, Mardomsalari, in southeastern Iran, a region long plagued by lawlessness. He was arrested last May in Zahedan, the provincial capital of Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan province some 1600 kilometers (990 miles) southeast of Tehran.

The area, near Pakistan and Afghanistan, is a key crossing point for narcotics and often sees clashes between police and drug gangs. It is also home to a large number of Iran's minority Sunni Muslims.

The Jundallah group, or God's Brigade, is active in southeastern Iran and has been blamed for past attacks on Iranian troops there. Jamshidi did not specify Mirnehad's alleged role in the group.

In December, Iranian police killed 12 people suspected of membership in the group and detained five others after a shootout.

In February 2007, Iran hanged a member of the group, convicted in a bombing that killed 11 members of the elite Revolutionary Guards in Zahedan the same month. The Iranian government has also accused Jundallah of having links to al-Qaida.