Iran hanged a scientist who allegedly provided the U.S. with information about the country’s nuclear program. Shahram Amiri was executed for giving “vital information to the enemy,” a spokesman for Iran’s judiciary said, marking the first time Tehran acknowledged it had detained and tried the scientist who quickly went from hero to villain after he returned to Iran. Amiri’s mother said she was handed her son’s body with rope marks around his neck.
The mystery surrounding Amiri began in 2009, when he suddenly vanished in Saudi Arabia, where he was visiting Muslim holy sites. He resurfaced a year later in the United States and he posted a series of strange videos online, first claiming he had been kidnapped and placed under “intense psychological pressure to reveal sensitive information” about Iran’s nuclear program. He later said he wanted to stay in the U.S. only to post another video in which he said he wanted to go back home.
U.S. officials contradicted Amiri’s claims, saying the scientist had defected on his own, had handed over useful information, and had been paid around $5 milllion for his trouble.
Amiri returned to Iran in 2010 and was given a hero’s welcome, and the Iranian government quickly claimed he had worked as a double agent. But he was later arrested and tried for treason. A court then sentenced Amiri to death, a sentence that was upheld by the country’s supreme court, according to Iran’s official news agency.
