ianstone
09-26-2010, 04:04 PM
CIA Kidnap Claim Scientist Returns To Iran
Comments (18) (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Sharam-Amiri-Iranian-Nuclear-Scientist-Who-Claims-He-Was-Kidnapped-By-CIA-In-US-Returns-To-Iran/Article/201007315665577?lpos=World_News_First_Technology_A rticle_Teaser_Region__0&lid=ARTICLE_15665577_Sharam_Amiri%2C_Iranian_Nucle ar_Scientist_Who_Claims_He_Was_Kidnapped_By_CIA_In _US%2C_Returns_To_Iran#comments)
2:00pm UK, Thursday July 15, 2010
Tim Marshall, foreign affairs editor
An Iranian nuclear scientist who says he was kidnapped by CIA agents has arrived back in Tehran amid claims and counter claims over what he had been doing in the US.
Shahram Amiri (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Shahram_Amiri), 32, disappeared last summer while on the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
Appearing at a news conference in Tehran, alongside his family who had stayed behind in Iran, he gave his version of what happened.
''I was abducted in Medina in front of my hotel by US and Saudi intelligence agents and then transferred to an unknown location in Saudi Arabia.
"They injected drugs into me. They took me to the United States on a military plane.
"During my stay in the first two months I was subjected to heavy psychological and mental tortures by CIA interrogators.
"They told me if I did not co-operate with them they would hand me over to Israel and there are hidden prisons in Israel and there will be no trace of you any more."
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Jul/Week3/15665609.jpg Mr Amiri sits alongside his family at a press conference on his return
The US, which until Wednesday had never acknowledged that Mr Amiri was in America, denied kidknapping but did not address the claim that other countries may have been involved.
Washington has said Mr Amiri lived freely in the US, but that does not rule out that the CIA was debriefing him on what he knows about the Iranian nuclear programme.
An unnamed US official was quoted by the Washington Post as saying the CIA paid Mr Amiri £3.3m.
He added: "We got the information, they got the scientist back. Who do you think got the better deal?''
:: Read Tim Marshall's Foreign Matters blog (http://blogs.news.sky.com/foreignmatters)
Earlier this year a video of Mr Amiri appeared on YouTube in which he said he was being held in in Tucson, Arizona.
He appeared to be reading a statement, but there was no explanation of how he had managed to record the video and publish it.
A few weeks later, another man, looking like Mr Amiri but heavier set, appeared in a professionally shot video.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Jul/Week3/15665605.jpg Shahram Amiri flashes the victory sign as he arrives at Imam Khomeini Airport
This time he said he was in the US of his own volition and was studying.
A third video appeared, and this time Mr Amiri said he had escaped from US agents in Virginia and that the second video was a "complete lie" put together by the Americans.
On Monday he showed up at the Iranian interests section of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington DC, sparking a flurry of interest in the story and various theories as to what had really happened.
There are two basic versions. One says his story is correct, the other, from unnamed American sources, says that he had defected, been paid, given up his secrets, but then - after his family was threatened back in Iran - wanted to return home.
One US official, speaking off the record, said: "He left his family behind, that was his choice."
That sentence hints at the defection and subsequent family threats version of events.
But with the Iranians maximising the propaganda value of their version, and with Mr Amiri back in Tehran, the full truth may never be known.
What is clear, is that the suspicion between the two countries has deepened.
CIA Kidnap Claim Scientist Returns To Iran
Video
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Jul/Week3/15665526.jpg 0:58 (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/video/Iranian-Scientist-Returns-Home-To-Tehran-Shahram-Amiri-Claims-Of-US-Torture/Video/201007315665524?lpos=video_Article_Related_Content _Region_1&lid=VIDEO_15665524_Iranian_Scientist_Returns_Home_ To_Tehran%3A_Shahram_Amiri_Claims_Of_US_Torture)
Jul 15,2010
Iran Scientist Claims Of US Torturehttp://news.sky.com/sky-news/app/img/chv_12_red.gif (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/video/Iranian-Scientist-Returns-Home-To-Tehran-Shahram-Amiri-Claims-Of-US-Torture/Video/201007315665524?lpos=video_Article_Related_Content _Region_1&lid=VIDEO_15665524_Iranian_Scientist_Returns_Home_ To_Tehran%3A_Shahram_Amiri_Claims_Of_US_Torture)
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Jul/Week2/15664483.jpg (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Iran-Missing-Scientist-Shahram-Amiri-Reappears-And-Says-He-Wants-To-Leave-US-And-Go-Home/Article/201007215664396?lpos=World_News_Article_Related_Co ntent_Region_2&lid=ARTICLE_15664396_Iran%3A_Missing_Scientist_Sha hram_Amiri_Reappears_And_Says_He_Wants_To_Leave_US _And_Go_Home)Jul 13,2010
Missing Iranian Scientist Turns Up http://news.sky.com/sky-news/app/img/chv_12_red.gif (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Iran-Missing-Scientist-Shahram-Amiri-Reappears-And-Says-He-Wants-To-Leave-US-And-Go-Home/Article/201007215664396?lpos=World_News_Article_Related_Co ntent_Region_2&lid=ARTICLE_15664396_Iran%3A_Missing_Scientist_Sha hram_Amiri_Reappears_And_Says_He_Wants_To_Leave_US _And_Go_Home)
Video
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/Feb/Week1/15215775.jpg 1:21 (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/video/Iran-Launches-Its-First-Domestically-Made-Satellite-Into-Orbit-The-Safir-2-Rocket-Was-Described-As-Another-Achievement-For-Iranian-Scientists-Under-Sanctions/Video/200902115215776?lpos=video_Article_Related_Content _Region_3&lid=VIDEO_15215776_Iran_Launches_Its_First_Domesti cally_Made_Satellite_Into_Orbit._The_Safir-2_Rocket_Was_Described_As_Another_Achievement_For_ Iranian_Scientists_Under_Sanctions)
Feb 03,2009
Fears Over Iran Satellitehttp://news.sky.com/sky-news/app/img/chv_12_red.gif (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/video/Iran-Launches-Its-First-Domestically-Made-Satellite-Into-Orbit-The-Safir-2-Rocket-Was-Described-As-Another-Achievement-For-Iranian-Scientists-Under-Sanctions/Video/200902115215776?lpos=video_Article_Related_Content _Region_3&lid=VIDEO_15215776_Iran_Launches_Its_First_Domesti cally_Made_Satellite_Into_Orbit._The_Safir-2_Rocket_Was_Described_As_Another_Achievement_For_ Iranian_Scientists_Under_Sanctions)
Comments (18) (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Sharam-Amiri-Iranian-Nuclear-Scientist-Who-Claims-He-Was-Kidnapped-By-CIA-In-US-Returns-To-Iran/Article/201007315665577?lpos=World_News_First_Technology_A rticle_Teaser_Region__0&lid=ARTICLE_15665577_Sharam_Amiri%2C_Iranian_Nucle ar_Scientist_Who_Claims_He_Was_Kidnapped_By_CIA_In _US%2C_Returns_To_Iran#comments)
2:00pm UK, Thursday July 15, 2010
Tim Marshall, foreign affairs editor
An Iranian nuclear scientist who says he was kidnapped by CIA agents has arrived back in Tehran amid claims and counter claims over what he had been doing in the US.
Shahram Amiri (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Shahram_Amiri), 32, disappeared last summer while on the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
Appearing at a news conference in Tehran, alongside his family who had stayed behind in Iran, he gave his version of what happened.
''I was abducted in Medina in front of my hotel by US and Saudi intelligence agents and then transferred to an unknown location in Saudi Arabia.
"They injected drugs into me. They took me to the United States on a military plane.
"During my stay in the first two months I was subjected to heavy psychological and mental tortures by CIA interrogators.
"They told me if I did not co-operate with them they would hand me over to Israel and there are hidden prisons in Israel and there will be no trace of you any more."
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Jul/Week3/15665609.jpg Mr Amiri sits alongside his family at a press conference on his return
The US, which until Wednesday had never acknowledged that Mr Amiri was in America, denied kidknapping but did not address the claim that other countries may have been involved.
Washington has said Mr Amiri lived freely in the US, but that does not rule out that the CIA was debriefing him on what he knows about the Iranian nuclear programme.
An unnamed US official was quoted by the Washington Post as saying the CIA paid Mr Amiri £3.3m.
He added: "We got the information, they got the scientist back. Who do you think got the better deal?''
:: Read Tim Marshall's Foreign Matters blog (http://blogs.news.sky.com/foreignmatters)
Earlier this year a video of Mr Amiri appeared on YouTube in which he said he was being held in in Tucson, Arizona.
He appeared to be reading a statement, but there was no explanation of how he had managed to record the video and publish it.
A few weeks later, another man, looking like Mr Amiri but heavier set, appeared in a professionally shot video.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Jul/Week3/15665605.jpg Shahram Amiri flashes the victory sign as he arrives at Imam Khomeini Airport
This time he said he was in the US of his own volition and was studying.
A third video appeared, and this time Mr Amiri said he had escaped from US agents in Virginia and that the second video was a "complete lie" put together by the Americans.
On Monday he showed up at the Iranian interests section of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington DC, sparking a flurry of interest in the story and various theories as to what had really happened.
There are two basic versions. One says his story is correct, the other, from unnamed American sources, says that he had defected, been paid, given up his secrets, but then - after his family was threatened back in Iran - wanted to return home.
One US official, speaking off the record, said: "He left his family behind, that was his choice."
That sentence hints at the defection and subsequent family threats version of events.
But with the Iranians maximising the propaganda value of their version, and with Mr Amiri back in Tehran, the full truth may never be known.
What is clear, is that the suspicion between the two countries has deepened.
CIA Kidnap Claim Scientist Returns To Iran
Video
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Jul/Week3/15665526.jpg 0:58 (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/video/Iranian-Scientist-Returns-Home-To-Tehran-Shahram-Amiri-Claims-Of-US-Torture/Video/201007315665524?lpos=video_Article_Related_Content _Region_1&lid=VIDEO_15665524_Iranian_Scientist_Returns_Home_ To_Tehran%3A_Shahram_Amiri_Claims_Of_US_Torture)
Jul 15,2010
Iran Scientist Claims Of US Torturehttp://news.sky.com/sky-news/app/img/chv_12_red.gif (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/video/Iranian-Scientist-Returns-Home-To-Tehran-Shahram-Amiri-Claims-Of-US-Torture/Video/201007315665524?lpos=video_Article_Related_Content _Region_1&lid=VIDEO_15665524_Iranian_Scientist_Returns_Home_ To_Tehran%3A_Shahram_Amiri_Claims_Of_US_Torture)
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Jul/Week2/15664483.jpg (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Iran-Missing-Scientist-Shahram-Amiri-Reappears-And-Says-He-Wants-To-Leave-US-And-Go-Home/Article/201007215664396?lpos=World_News_Article_Related_Co ntent_Region_2&lid=ARTICLE_15664396_Iran%3A_Missing_Scientist_Sha hram_Amiri_Reappears_And_Says_He_Wants_To_Leave_US _And_Go_Home)Jul 13,2010
Missing Iranian Scientist Turns Up http://news.sky.com/sky-news/app/img/chv_12_red.gif (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Iran-Missing-Scientist-Shahram-Amiri-Reappears-And-Says-He-Wants-To-Leave-US-And-Go-Home/Article/201007215664396?lpos=World_News_Article_Related_Co ntent_Region_2&lid=ARTICLE_15664396_Iran%3A_Missing_Scientist_Sha hram_Amiri_Reappears_And_Says_He_Wants_To_Leave_US _And_Go_Home)
Video
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/Feb/Week1/15215775.jpg 1:21 (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/video/Iran-Launches-Its-First-Domestically-Made-Satellite-Into-Orbit-The-Safir-2-Rocket-Was-Described-As-Another-Achievement-For-Iranian-Scientists-Under-Sanctions/Video/200902115215776?lpos=video_Article_Related_Content _Region_3&lid=VIDEO_15215776_Iran_Launches_Its_First_Domesti cally_Made_Satellite_Into_Orbit._The_Safir-2_Rocket_Was_Described_As_Another_Achievement_For_ Iranian_Scientists_Under_Sanctions)
Feb 03,2009
Fears Over Iran Satellitehttp://news.sky.com/sky-news/app/img/chv_12_red.gif (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/video/Iran-Launches-Its-First-Domestically-Made-Satellite-Into-Orbit-The-Safir-2-Rocket-Was-Described-As-Another-Achievement-For-Iranian-Scientists-Under-Sanctions/Video/200902115215776?lpos=video_Article_Related_Content _Region_3&lid=VIDEO_15215776_Iran_Launches_Its_First_Domesti cally_Made_Satellite_Into_Orbit._The_Safir-2_Rocket_Was_Described_As_Another_Achievement_For_ Iranian_Scientists_Under_Sanctions)