Former CIA Officer Sentenced to Prison for Leaking Information About Iran

On May 10, a federal court in the United States sentenced Jeffrey Sterling, a former officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), to three and a half years in prison for leaking information regarding a covert program against Iran's nuclear activities. According to the Associated Press, Sterling faced a request for 20 years in prison under U.S. federal laws against 'espionage.' The jury found him guilty of the charges against him. This former CIA officer had been convicted in February of leaking information to a reporter from The New York Times. His arrest, which was made public in January 2011, was based on his nine years of service for the CIA in the 1990s. Jeffrey Sterling was accused of revealing secrets related to a CIA program aimed at providing intentionally flawed blueprints to Iranian officials. According to the allegations, these documents were given to James Risen, a prominent reporter for The New York Times, who referenced them in his book 'State of War' and criticized the program, which he believed was easily identifiable. At the time of Sterling's initial conviction, U.S. media regarded it as a success for the government, which is trying to suppress the leaks of classified information that have occurred over the years.