Uncategorized

IRANIAN NUKE SCIENTIST NOW AN NATIONAL HERO…….

Ahmadinnerjacket: I poned Obama once again

Who can really say with assurance what really transpired here, chances are threats were made towards his family and relatives, but for now, the TT isn’t sure what went on. Looks more like a Cold War scenario with it being anyone’s guess. KGS

Iranian nuclear scientist returns home to a hero’s welcome

TEHRAN — An Iranian nuclear scientist at the center of a bizarre espionage drama arrived here to a hero’s welcome Thursday morning, including a personal greeting from several senior government officials.
Shahram Amiri flashed victory signs to dozens of reporters as he stepped into Imam Khomeini International Airport, and his 7-year-old son broke down in tears as his father held him for the first time since Amiri disappeared in Saudi Arabia 14 months ago.
He was also greeted by Hassan Qashqavi, a high-ranking Foreign Ministry official, as well as a deputy interior minister and a deputy science minister.
Iran’s Arabic-language news channel Al Alam extensively covered the arrival, but it was not shown live on state television, which does not broadcast in the early morning.
Amiri’s tale has dominated Iranian media since Monday night, when he surfaced in front of Iran’s diplomatic mission in Washington and asked for a ticket back to his homeland. Amiri, 32, told officials that he had been abducted by U.S. intelligence operatives and had spent much of the past year in Tucson being questioned about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Amiri’s reappearance was as mysterious as his disappearance and came just weeks after a series of Internet videos added to the intrigue surrounding the case. In the videos, Amiri claimed alternately to have been kidnapped by the CIA and to have come to this country on his own accord to pursue a PhD.
The case has emerged as a source of embarrassment for both governments. The Obama administration faced the departure of someone whose defection had been considered an intelligence coup. Iran described Amiri’s desire to the leave the United States as a setback for American efforts, but Amiri may have compromised the secrecy of Iran’s nuclear endeavors.
According to an official familiar with the account Amiri gave at the mission, his pleas to be released were finally granted when he was brought to Washington and sent to a nondescript storefront on Wisconsin Avenue, where Iranian representatives work in a space officially operated by Pakistan’s embassy.
Within hours of arriving at the mission, 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 disputed Amiri’s account, insisting that he defected voluntarily and provided valuable intelligence about Iran’s nuclear program before increased worries over the safety of his family in Iran prompted him to seek a return. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters Tuesday that Amiri was and always had been free to go. “These are decisions that are his alone to make,” Clinton said, noting that Iran has refused to release three American backpackers detained in the country for nearly a year.
Amiri’s case has provided a rare public glimpse into the espionage sparring between the United States and Iran, much as the capture and swap of Russian undercover operatives this month exposed the extent to which such cloak-and-dagger endeavors have outlasted the Cold War. The United States and other nations contend that Iran is secretly developing the means to build a nuclear weapon, but the Iranian government says its program is entirely peaceful.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.