Iran, News and discussion

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[url="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100715/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_missing_scientist"]'Abducted' nuclear scientist returns to Iran[/url]

It also gives the ruling clerics a welcome distraction at a time when domestic protests are growing over Iran's stumbling economy and worries about the fallout from international sanctions.



Amiri's return "shows the strength of the Islamic republic," boasted lawmaker Amir Taherkhani. Another prominent parliament member, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, called the alleged kidnapping a "terrorist act."



But the Washington Post reported that the CIA paid Amiri $5 million to provide intelligence on Iran's nuclear program. The Post in its online edition late Wednesday said the money came from a secret program aimed at inducing scientists and others with information on Iran's nuclear program to defect.



U.S. officials also told the Post that Amiri should be unable to get to that money now that he's returned to Iran, which is under financial sanctions.



It remains unclear how Iranian authorities will ultimately deal with Amiri — and the U.S. claims he cooperated with American authorities — despite his hero-style welcome.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki called Amiri a "dear compatriot" and said Iran was keenly interested in learning more about the reasons for his alleged abduction.



Journalists were allowed to cover Amiri's first steps back in Iran in a rare relaxation of media restrictions. The last such press gathering permitted at Tehran's international airport was linked to another tussle with Washington: the May visit by the mothers of three jailed Americans arrested last year on the Iran-Iraq border.



Amiri's pre-dawn arrival capped a stunning tumble of events over the past month that included leaked videos with mixed messages, Amiri surfacing at a diplomatic compound in Washington and the White House finally acknowledging his presence in the country.



The U.S. says he was a willing defector who changed his mind and decided to board a plane home from Washington. Amiri has told a very different tale, claiming he was snatched while on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and bundled off to the United States to be harshly interrogated and offered millions of dollars by the CIA to speak against Iran.

Amiri was embraced by his family — including his tearful 7-year-old son — and greeted by a top envoy from Iran's Foreign Ministry. The 32-year-old Amiri smiled and gave the V-for-victory sign.



Speaking to journalists after a flight via Qatar, Amiri repeated his earlier claims that he was snatched while in the Saudi holy city of Medina and carried off to the United States.

The first months were full of intense pressures, he alleged. "I was under the harshest mental and physical torture," he said at the Tehran airport, with his young son sitting on his lap.



He also alleged that Israeli agents were present during the interrogations and that CIA officers offered him $50 million to remain in America. He gave no further details to back up the claims or shed any new light on his time in the United States, but promised to reveal more later.



"I have some documents proving that I've not been free in the United States and have always been under the control of armed agents of U.S. intelligence services," Amiri told reporters.