Iran to execute German as spy

Wednesday 27 January 1993 00:02 GMT

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Tehran (AFP) - A German national has been sentenced to death in Iran after being found guilty of spying for Iraq, the Iranian press yesterday quoted the Prosecutor General, Ayatollah Mussavi Tabrizi, as saying. The ayatollah identified the man by his first name 'Helmut', but gave no other details except to say he has been held since 1991. 'He has been tried, and sentenced to death by hanging,' he told newspapers.

The German embassy in Tehran refused to comment. Iran has never confirmed reports of the arrest in 1989 of Helmut Szimkus, a former employee of a German machine-tools maker.

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Iran to execute German as spy

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