Shahram Amiri: International Man of Mystery

James Phillips / July 15, 2010

Shahram Amiri, an Iranian nuclear scientist who defected last year to the United States, headed back to Iran this week, after apparently deciding to re-defect. Amiri, who disappeared last year during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, surfaced Monday night at the Iranian interest section of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington. Before flying back to Iran, Amiri told state-run Iranian television that “my kidnapping was a disgraceful act for America…. I was under enormous psychological pressure and supervision of armed agents in the past 14 months.”

U.S. officials strongly deny Amiri’s charges and point out that, if he had been held against his will, he would not have been able to release a series of bizarre and contradictory videotapes on YouTubein recent months. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “He came to this country freely, he lived here freely, and he has chosen freely to return to Iran. The United States, to be sure, isn’t standing in his way. He himself gives the lie to the idea he was tortured or imprisoned. He can tell any story he wants—but that won’t make it true.” U.S. officials revealed that Amiri was paid more than five million dollars for his information on Iran’s nuclear program, which is an unlikely windfall for a victim of a kidnapping. (more…)