The Iranian government admitted that Shahram Amiri, a former scientist in the country’s nuclear program, was executed after being convicted of spying for the U.S., according to Iranian news outlets.
Advertisement
But he was soon arrested in Iran and tried for treason – reportedly for giving “vital information” about the country to the USA through his American connections.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton questioned Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s qualifications to hold the United States’ top office, saying Sunday that emails on her private server about an Iranian nuclear scientist who was executed for spying for the USA show she’s “reckless”.
Amiri, a university researcher working for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, disappeared during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in 2009 and later surfaced in the US.
An email forwarded to Clinton by senior adviser Jake Sullivan on July 5, 2010 – just nine days before Amiri returned to Tehran – appears to reference the scientist.
In June 2010, a shaky online video emerged of Amiri saying he had been kidnapped by American and Saudi agents and was in Tucson, Arizona.
Shahram Amiri had been in custody in Iran since 2010.
Iran claimed in July 2010 that Amiri was being held against his will, but then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Amiri was free to go if he chose to.
Amiri’s family said on Sunday that he was executed at an unknown location earlier this week, according to The Guardian.
New Hillary Clinton emails released by the State Department appear to lift the curtain on the freaky circumstances surrounding Shahram Amiri, an Iranian nuclear scientist who claims to have been abducted by the Central Intelligence Agency.
Iran agreed to curb its nuclear power activities late previous year in exchange for the lifting of sanctions that had seen its economy crumble.
The convoluted ordeal that ended with Mr. Amiri’s execution took place during a period of heightened concern in the USA and other Western countries that Iran was expanding its nuclear program and seeking to develop a nuclear weapon. This news story is related to Latest/140819-Iran-executes-nuclear-scientist-for-spying-for-US/ – breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne. USA officials on the other hand claimed Amiri had come to the United States willingly and that he had been spying for them from within Iran and was paid $5 million for the information he provided.
In brief remarks there, he repeated that he had been kidnapped by US agents and said, “I am so happy to be back in the Islamic republic”.
One year later, he emerged in the Pakistani Embassy in Washington where he was taking refuge, and demanded immediately return to Iran.
“We have a diplomatic, “psychological” issue, not a legal issue”.
At the time of his return, The Wall Street Journal reported that Amiri had returned home after Iranian officials threatened to kill his son. Her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, has recently released an ad poking Clinton for several of her recent “malfunctions” when speaking – playing off the idea that she is “short-circuiting” enough to make her a unsafe liability for the country.
Advertisement
‘We continue to raise our strong concerns about British prisoners in Iran, including Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, at the highest levels in both London and Tehran, ‘ a spokeswoman for Britain’s Foreign Office said. Our person won’t be able to do anything anyway. Hillary Clinton confirmed Amiri had been in the United States the entire time and clarified he “arrived of his own free will and he is free to go”.
