Iran on Tuesday accused the United States of involvement in the abduction of one of its nuclear scientist, who disappeared during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in June.
Shahram Amiri went missing after he traveled to Saudi Arabia for Hajj pilgrimage on June 4, 2009. Amiri was a researcher at Tehran's Malek Ashtar University and was serving as a staff of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran when he disappeared.
"Based on existing pieces of evidence that we have at our disposal the Americans had a role in Mr Amiri's abduction," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told journalists in Tehran on Tuesday.
"The Americans did abduct him. Therefore we expect the American government to return him," Mottaki said, adding that Saudi Arabia "is also responsible regarding this issue."
"He disappeared in Saudi Arabia and naturally we ask the Saudi government to look into the case .... Saudi Arabia must be held accountable in this regard," Mottaki said.
Earlier in the day, Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Tehran's foreign ministry spokesman as saying that Saudi Arabia has handed over Amiri to Washington, adding that Amiri was one of 11 Iranian detainees currently held in U.S. prisons.
"Shahram Amiri, Iran's nuclear scientist who had gone to Hajj in Saudi Arabia, was handed over by Riyadh to Washington," Ramin Mehmanparast said, marking the first acknowledgment by Tehran that Amiri was a nuclear scientist.
Washington rejected the Iranian allegation and has denied any knowledge about the missing nuclear scientist. Meanwhile, several media reports suggested that Amiri wanted to seek asylum abroad.
The latest development comes amidst rising tensions over Iran's refusal to accept a UN-proposed nuclear deal for easing international concerns over Teheran's nuclear program. The deal was proposed in October by then International Atomic Energy chief Mohamed ElBaradei after three days of intense negotiations at an IAEA-hosted meeting, involving diplomats from the U.S., France, Russia and Iran, in Vienna. Except for Iran, all the other nations involved in the negotiations have accepted the proposed plan.
The IAEA-proposed plan envisaged shipping low-enriched Iranian uranium to Russia for further enrichment and then to France for conversion into actual fuel for Teheran's medical-purpose reactor that makes isotopes. The proposed deal was seen as an amicable solution to the issue, as it would provide Iran the nuclear fuel it requires to run its research reactor while guaranteeing the West that Tehran will not have enough nuclear material to convert into finer-grade uranium required for making nuclear weapons.
The Vienna negotiations essentially sought to advance the agreements reached at a previous round of negotiations between Iranian officials and representatives of Great Britain, China, Russia, the U.S., France and Germany in Geneva in early October.
Iran had agreed at the Geneva talks to allow officials from the IAEA to visit and inspect its recently revealed second uranium-enrichment facility. It also agreed in principle to transport some of the low-enriched uranium produced in Iran to a third country for further enrichment and transformation into fuel for use in the Tehran research reactor.
Though Iran allowed IAEA inspectors to visit Iran's recently disclosed Fordo nuclear plant near the city of Qom, it rejected part of the deal that requires shipment of its low-enriched uranium to foreign countries for further enrichment. Tehran, however, indicated that it would instead consider exchanging uranium for nuclear fuel if carried out inside the country. But other nations involved in the talks have rejected the Iranian demand.
Iran's failure to accept the deal prompted the board of directors of the IAEA, UN's nuclear watchdog, to adopt a resolution on 27th November, censuring Iran over its controversial nuclear program. Notably, the IAEA resolution was supported by China and Russia, symbolizing the increasing international concerns over Iran's disputed nuclear program. Previously, the two countries had resisted earlier efforts by the western nations to take serious actions against Iran over its refusal to halt its nuclear development program.
Iran, however, rejected the IAEA resolution, describing it as an act of intimidation and responded by authorizing the country's Atomic Energy Organization to begin building ten more uranium-enrichment plants for enhancing the country's electricity production.
Following Iran's rash response to the IAEA resolution, western nations threatened to impose further sanctions on Iran over its reported plans to built 10 more nuclear reactors. But Iran brushed said the western threat, stressing that such a move by western nations would not hinder Iran's nuclear program.
Though Iran says its nuclear program is intended for peaceful civilian power generation purposes only, the West believes it a cover-up for the Islamic country's nuclear weapon ambitions. Iran has already survived three sets of sanctions imposed on it by the UN Security Council following its refusal to halt its nuclear development work.
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