An Iranian court has sentenced an American man to death on charges of spying for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said Monday the judgment against Amir Mirzaei Hekmati was for CIA ties and for cooperating with a “hostile country.”

The U.S. State Department has previously demanded his release, saying the spying accusations are false and that Iran has a history of holding “innocent foreigners for political reasons.”

In December, Iranian state television broadcast video of a man identified as Hekmati delivering a purported confession in fluent Farsi and English.

In the video, Hekmati said he was specially trained and served at U.S. bases in Iraq and Afghanistan before being sent on a mission to infiltrate the Iranian intelligence ministry.

Iranian news reports say Hekmati was detained in August or September of last year.