Shahram Amiri, the illusive Iranian nuclear scientist returns to Tehran
July 15, 2010
Shahram Amiri, the illusive Iranian nuclear scientist arrived in Tehran at noon today. At a press conference he said: “I was kidnapped by Saudi and American spy networks while I was in Medina, standing in front of my hotel. They took me to some unknown location in Saudi Arabia, and injected me with something that rendered me unconscious and then transferred me to the U.S. in a military plane. During the first two months I was in the U.S. I was under the most severe torture, psychological torture at the hands of the CIA and of course this was nothing more than yet another new game they had set out to play against the Islamic Republic of Iran. They wanted me to make announcements that they would have broadcast in American media, saying that I had defected to the United States at my own accord, bringing with me nuclear secrets contained in a laptop. I have a question for the government of the United States and that is that if they claimed that I was cooperating with them, how come they never once admitted to me being in the United States, allowing me to speak to the media myself? In regards to the kidnapping, this was nothing more than some kind of a psychological war that they had intended to start because as I announced in those videos that I put out, I’m nothing more than a simple scientist who is working as a researcher in a university setting. An academic institution is open to everyone and we do not conduct any secret research there to which the United States would want to gain access. They told me that if I don’t comply they would hand me over to the Palestine occupying country (Israel) and in that country there are secret prisons to where you cannot be traced and then we can basically claim anything we want on your behalf and no one will have any doubts since you won’t be available to defend yourself or deny anything. And in some cases, during some of the interrogations several Israeli agents were present. I have documents that prove the fact that I was not free inside that country (U.S.) and that I was not free to contact anyone and was under constant control of armed CIA agents. And until the last day, I was under their control and continued to refuse any contact with anyone. The only time was when they wanted me to have an interview on CNN where they wanted me to state that I was defecting to the U.S. because I wanted to and that was all I could say. They made me a $10 million offer and handed me a phone where they said, up to the last minute that, if you change your mind and wish to remain in the U.S. we would pay you up to $50 million and you will not be asked to conduct any interviews…and that we can move you to any European country you wish to move to and your family will also be transferred there, under our (U.S.) protection and financial support….just do not return to Iran. My case file is open and with my return these documents will be completed and of course I will continue to look into the matter via international organizations because the psychological blow that has been dealt to me and my family cannot even be rectified. This is what the United States must face and answer for this crime that they have committed.”
Editor’s note: In late June Iranian regime-run television conducted “an interview” with a woman who claimed to be Azar Amiri, Shahram Amiri’s wife, who opined that a video that was recently posted on YouTube of her husband appears to have been staged. In the video, Shahram Amiri denies he has been kidnapped and says he is simply studying in the United States. Azar Amiri said: “How can a man leave his child, who was about to start elementary school, and say easily, ‘I’m studying and I will return when I’m done’? It’s very unusual.”
The 32-year-old Amiri was a researcher at the Maalek Ashtar Industrial University which is owned and supervised by the Revolutionary Guards.
