The story of Iranian defector, Shahram Amiri (a nuclear scientist), is still unclear. Why did he return from the United States to Iran if he had important secrets that could have jeopardized his life? Why did Iranian officials receive him with warm and extensive media coverage at the airport if they had other plans for him? Why did they quickly arrest him for treason after celebrating him at the airport as a respectable patriot? Why did they sentence him to 10 years in jail and then execute him?
There are large Iranian communities outside Iran, and most have good education and are financially stable. Most have chosen to live in exile or were born there, and refuse to return or even visit because they do not trust the government, which greatly resembles the totalitarian regimes of Syrian President Bashar Assad, the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s, and the late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.
The number of Iranians in exile is estimated at five million, the largest number of exiles by choice in the world. Hundreds of thousands fled following the 1979 revolution, and thousands continue to leave. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) ranks Iran among the top countries suffering from brain drain.
It seems Amiri was banned from traveling because of the sensitive nature of his job as a nuclear scientist. This is why he exploited Haj to escape supervision, and headed from Saudi Arabia to the United States. Iran condemned Saudi Arabia, which responded that it is not responsible for monitoring pilgrims and does not have the right to force them to choose their destinations.
When Tehran claimed that Amiri was kidnapped in Saudi Arabia, he appeared publicly in the US and said he was there of his own accord. He later surprised everyone when he appeared at the Pakistani embassy and spoke on TV, claiming he was detained and prohibited from traveling to Iran. Due to this embarrassing situation, then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Amiri willingly came to the US and could leave whenever he wanted.
His return to Tehran was depicted as a victory, but he was arrested days later, tried and sentenced to 10 years in prison. His family says he was executed five years later and buried in Kermanshah. Most probably, the reason for his contradictory statements and weird behavior is that Tehran threatened to murder his family if he did not return. It allegedly threatened to murder his son, who was next to him at the press conference after he returned.
Iran initially said Amiri was not a significant figure or a nuclear scientist, as he claimed. They then said he was an intelligence officer who deceived the Americans and convinced them he was a nuclear scientist to learn what US intelligence was doing with defectors.
All these lies are understandable, but why celebrate him upon his return as a loyal patriot then quickly detain him? Why was he executed when the judiciary sentenced him to prison? The Iranian spokesperson did not convince anyone when he said Amiri deserved to be punished because he exposed important secrets to the Americans.
Did imprisoning and executing him aim to intimidate Iranians and deter frequent information leaks? Many secrets of Iran’s nuclear facilities and military activities have been voluntarily exposed by employees of these institutions.
There are large Iranian communities outside Iran, and most have good education and are financially stable. Most have chosen to live in exile or were born there, and refuse to return or even visit because they do not trust the government, which greatly resembles the totalitarian regimes of Syrian President Bashar Assad, the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s, and the late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.
The number of Iranians in exile is estimated at five million, the largest number of exiles by choice in the world. Hundreds of thousands fled following the 1979 revolution, and thousands continue to leave. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) ranks Iran among the top countries suffering from brain drain.
It seems Amiri was banned from traveling because of the sensitive nature of his job as a nuclear scientist. This is why he exploited Haj to escape supervision, and headed from Saudi Arabia to the United States. Iran condemned Saudi Arabia, which responded that it is not responsible for monitoring pilgrims and does not have the right to force them to choose their destinations.
When Tehran claimed that Amiri was kidnapped in Saudi Arabia, he appeared publicly in the US and said he was there of his own accord. He later surprised everyone when he appeared at the Pakistani embassy and spoke on TV, claiming he was detained and prohibited from traveling to Iran. Due to this embarrassing situation, then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Amiri willingly came to the US and could leave whenever he wanted.
His return to Tehran was depicted as a victory, but he was arrested days later, tried and sentenced to 10 years in prison. His family says he was executed five years later and buried in Kermanshah. Most probably, the reason for his contradictory statements and weird behavior is that Tehran threatened to murder his family if he did not return. It allegedly threatened to murder his son, who was next to him at the press conference after he returned.
Iran initially said Amiri was not a significant figure or a nuclear scientist, as he claimed. They then said he was an intelligence officer who deceived the Americans and convinced them he was a nuclear scientist to learn what US intelligence was doing with defectors.
All these lies are understandable, but why celebrate him upon his return as a loyal patriot then quickly detain him? Why was he executed when the judiciary sentenced him to prison? The Iranian spokesperson did not convince anyone when he said Amiri deserved to be punished because he exposed important secrets to the Americans.
Did imprisoning and executing him aim to intimidate Iranians and deter frequent information leaks? Many secrets of Iran’s nuclear facilities and military activities have been voluntarily exposed by employees of these institutions.
