Skip Nav | Home | Mobile | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Security | Support Us

World

Iran's disappeared nuclear scientist: Video points to unlawful US abduction

Finian Cunningham | 09.06.2010 09:34 | Analysis | Anti-militarism | Repression | World

The mysterious disappearance of an Iranian nuclear scientist took another twist with the broadcast of a video message in which he claims that he was abducted by American and Saudi intelligence agents and taken to the US where is being held against his will.

Shahram Amiri
Shahram Amiri


The mysterious disappearance of an Iranian nuclear scientist took another twist with the broadcast of a video message in which he claims that he was abducted by American and Saudi intelligence agents and taken to the US where is being held against his will.

Reuters said that the identity of Shahram Amiri was not independently verified, but the Iranian foreign ministry seemed convinced of the video’s authenticity and said that it was now following up legal measures with the US over the case.

The video was first broadcast on Iranian state television news on 7 June. It apparently shows Amiri speaking in his native Farsi into a computer wearing head phones. He claims that he was kidnapped by the CIA and the Saudi spy agency and that during his detention he was tortured in order to coerce him to make statements that were subsequently reported by ABC. [2] In his alleged confession, Amiri says that he willingly defected to the US and that Iran is conducting a secret nuclear weapons programme.

CIA sources told ABC then that they considered Amiri’s purported defection an “intelligence coup”.

Amiri, who according to Iran worked as a scientist at Malek Ashfar University in Tehran researching radioactive isotopes for medical treatment, went missing in early June 2009 during a religious pilgrimage he was making in Saudi Arabia. He was travelling to the holy city of Mecca, but is believed to have been detained by Saudi police in Medina.

From there, he claims that he was handed over to the CIA and flown to the US. In the video, Amiri claims that he is being held against his will in an undisclosed place in Tuscon, Arizona. He appealed for international humanitarian organisations to take up his plight so that he can be returned to his “dear Iran”.

Questions remain, however. Who helped Amiri make this video and how was it obtained by Iranian state broadcasters? If the scientist is being held against his will, as he claims, how could such a video have been made? Was his alleged custody somehow breached by a sympathetic person? Certainly, it seems highly unlikely that US intelligence agents would have released the video as part of a tortuous psychological war game with Iran, given that the accusations Amiri makes are so damning.

One thing is clear. The Iranian version of events is more consistent than that of the US or Saudis.

From the time of Amiri’s disappearance, Iran has charged the US and Saudi authorities with the same offences that the nuclear scientist is now claiming, that is, false detention and abduction. His family also claim that he was kidnapped by these agents.

When Iran first protested the disappearance of Amiri, both the US and the Saudis denied any knowledge of the case. Yet nine months later, CIA sources were cock-a-hoop about their “coup” in winning over Amiri as a defector and intelligence asset.

As with the wider nuclear controversy, Iran’s claims that it is not pursuing a weapons programme and that its uranium enrichment is for peaceful civilian purposes are distinguished from the US position which is riddled with contradictions and based on unsubstantiated conjecture.

And just as the state of Israel is coming under growing scrutiny for its wanton disregard for international law, the case of Shahram Amiri shows that the US government also views itself as above the law and international obligations.

Furthermore, the case cannot be compared with the detention of three young US citizens in Iran, as some media commentators suggest. In the latter case, Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal are accused of entering Iranian territory illegally, they are being processed by Iran’s legal system and they have received consular access through the Swiss embassy. Their families were also afforded contact when they visited the three in Tehran recently. None of these rights have been reciprocated by the US to Shahram Amiri, whose whereabouts and conditions remain shrouded in mystery due to American government gaming.

* Finian Cunningham is a journalist and musician www.myspace.com/finiancunninghammusic

_________________

Notes

[1]  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3y_lvRbSCQ

[2]  http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/exclusive-iran-nuclear-scientist-defects-us-cia-intelligence/story?id=10245234

Finian Cunningham
- e-mail: finian.cunningham@gmail.com
- Homepage: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19625

Comments

Hide the following comment

Forget the 'Mystery Machine'

09.06.2010 17:11

This isn't a mystery to anyone outside the US and the UK. US and Saudi secret services kidnapped an Iranian nuclear scientist when he went on Hajj to Mecca. The guy eventually got access to a computer to record or transmit a video IM (Skype or whatever) asking for international help. Soon after that he was made to read out another telescripted message saying he was perfectly happy studying in the US, but without denying he'd been kidnapped.

The second video is the sort of video that kidnappers always force victims to read out. The only people who could possibly doubt this man has been kidnapped are people who still believe that US and Saudi security services would never do that sort of thing, and that gullibility is easily exposed by US demands he be made part of a prisoner swap with the US 'hikers' who strayed into Iran. More importantly, it shows the CIA trying to force a quick lie to help justify war on Iran.

The BBC helpfully published transcripts of both video yesterday, which perhaps indicates that the British security services were not involved in this particular crime.

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/10269255.stm

"I, Shahram Amiri, expert and researcher of Malek-e-Ashtar Industrial University, am currently in the American city of Tucson in the state of Arizona.

I was kidnapped last year (2009) in the holy city of Medina on 3 June in a joint operation by the terror and abduction units of the American CIA and Saudi Arabia's Istikhbarat [intelligence agency].

They took me to a house located somewhere that I didn't know. They gave me an anaesthetic injection. When I became conscious I was in a big [voice interrupted] towards America.

During the eight months that I was kept in America, I was subject to the most severe tortures and psychological pressures by the American intelligence investigation groups.

And the main aim behind these investigation teams and the pressure imposed on me was to make me take part in an interview conducted by an American media source and claim that I was an important figure in Iran's nuclear programme and I had sought asylum in America at my own will.

And (to say) while seeking asylum I took some very important documents and a laptop with classified information on Iran's military nuclear programme in it to America from my country.

The main aim from this was to impose political pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran and in fact condemning (Iran) and proving lies that America has been constantly saying against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

I demand the organisations active in human rights issues in Iran and other countries to follow up my case seriously because I have unrightfully been abducted in a third country and have been brought to the US and I demand them to apply all their efforts to help me get freed and return to my dear country, Iran."

"I, Shahram Amiri, a citizen of the Islamic Republic of Iran, am in America and intend to continue my education here. I am free here and I assure everyone that I am safe.
A man claiming to be Shahram Amiri in the YouTube video The man in the YouTube video says he wants to stay in the US

My purpose in today's conversation is to put an end to all the rumours and accusations that have been levelled at me over the past year. I am Iranian and I have not taken any steps against my homeland.

My wish is to see Iran and its people rising to the peaks of progress and success.

I do not hold any political views and have no interest in the political subjects and discussions of any state and country. I am not involved in weapons research and have no experience and knowledge in this field.

I know that the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran will take care of and protect my family. I want them to know that I have never left them and have always loved them.

I am asking everyone to stop presenting information that distorts the reality about me."

-


Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

/regional publish include --> /regional search include -->

World Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Server Appeal Radio Page Video Page Indymedia Cinema Offline Newsheet

secure Encrypted Page

You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.

If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech