Iran has executed Shahram Amiri, a highly-prominent nuclear scientist, on charges of treason for giving top secret information to the United States.
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“This person who had access to the country’s secret and classified information had been linked to our hostile and No. 1 enemy, America, the Great Satan”, Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhosein Mohseni Ejehi said.
Iran has executed an Iranian nuclear scientist, Shahram Amiri, detained in 2010 when he returned home from the United States, after a court convicted him of spying for Washington, a spokesman for the judiciary said on Sunday.
“By taking his family hostage, exerting pressure on his family and making bogus promises, the regime compelled Amiri to return to Iran in 2010, but imprisoned him despite promises to the contrary”, it said. For his part, Amiri said that he was a low-level researcher without access to significant information about Iran’s nuclear program, but US officials said that he had been cooperative and had provided sensitive information about Iran’s nuclear program.
He said that it was a mistake letting Amiri return to Iran, sending him nearly certainly to his death. The U.S. government warned Amiri that he could be executed if he returned to Iran.
At the time, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said he handed himself into the United States and could leave whenever he wanted.
Iran, the United States and five other world powers reached a landmark deal previous year, under which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear programme in such a way as to ensure it can not develop nuclear weapons in exchange for a lifting of economic sanctions. Work on uranium enrichment was secret for a long time and when it came to light, it sparked worldwide worry that Tehran was aiming to become the next nuclear power in the Middle East, which led to the sanctions. The revelation of Hillary Clinton’s email scheme and the release of her emails with references to Amiri.
“This could lead to problematic news stories in the next 24 hours”, he added. Then, according to Iranian pro-reform daily, Shargh, an obituary notice circulated Amiri’s hometown of Kermanshah, a city some 500 kilometers (310 miles) southwest of Tehran, announcing a memorial service on Thursday and calling him a “bright moon” and “invaluable gem”.
News about Mr. Amiri, born in 1977, has been scant since his return to Iran. The announcement did not explain the nature of the information Amiri had been charged with revealing.
Amiri appeared in a video, posted June 29, 2010, saying he escaped from US custody.
“Per the subject we discussed, we have a diplomatic, “psychological” issue, not a legal issue”. We should recognise his concerns and frame it in terms of a misunderstanding with no malevolent intent and that we will make sure there is no recurrence.
When Amiri returned to Iran in 2010, he received a hero’s welcome, even appearing on talk shows until he mysteriously disappeared.
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Paul Sonne in Washington contributed to this article.
