WASHINGTON - The White House on Monday condemned Iran for giving a death sentence to alleged "CIA spy" Amir Hekmati.

"If true, we strongly condemn such a verdict and will work with our partners to convey our condemnation to the Iranian government, " White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement.

In an Iranian court, US-Iranian Hekmati was charged with "cooperating with hostile government of the US, membership in the CIA and an attempt to accuse Iran of terrorism," the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Monday.

In the court session, Hekmati confessed that he intended to penetrate Iran's intelligence systems to help the CIA and said he was deceived by the US intelligence agency, according to Fars.

Fars did not say when the court had been held to hear the defendant.

On December 17, Iran's Intelligence Ministry announced that it had arrested a US spy in the country. The ministry said in a statement that the spy is a CIA analyst tasked with infiltrating Iran's intelligence apparatus.

On December 20, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland denied that Hekmati was a spy, saying that he has been falsely accused of espionage.