Tehran, July 19: The Iranian scientist who American officials say defected to the United States only to be pressured by Iran to return home has made his first appearance since his arrival last week in Tehran, adding details to what he says was his abduction, psychological torture and eventual release by American intelligence agents.
In a videotaped interview, the scientist, Mr Shahram Amiri, accused American agents of trying to coerce him to confess to being a spy so they could try to exchange him for three young hikers from the United States who have been held by Iran since they wandered over the border from Iraq in July 2009.
“They told me that if I confess to being an Iranian intelligence agent, they could trade me with the three spies who were caught near the Iraqi border,” Mr Amiri told the interviewer, who then asked him whether the US agents had specifically used the term “spy” to describe the hikers.
“Yes, they used the word ‘spy’ and told me
that trading spies between countries is quite normal,” he replied.
Mr Amiri has said that he was kidnapped by the CIA and Saudi agents while on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia in June 2009, then tortured by CIA agents.