Israel Matzav

Shahram Amiri is being tortured

It was just Saturday that I asked how Shahram Amiri is doing. Amiri, as you may recall, is an Iranian nuclear scientist who defected to the United States and then decided to return to Iran. The answer was not long in coming and it's not surprising: Amiri has been and is being tortured.

An Iranian nuclear scientist who said he had been abducted by the C.I.A. has been imprisoned and tortured since his return to Iran in July, an opposition Web site reported Monday. The scientist, Shahram Amiri, spent the past two months in solitary confinement in a military prison and was hospitalized at least once because of physical and psychological pressure, according to the report on IranBriefing.net. Before his imprisonment, Mr. Amiri was subjected to three months of intensive interrogation, the report said. The report could not be verified, and much that has been reported about Mr. Amiri’s case has been confusing and contradictory. American officials said Mr. Amiri was a C.I.A. informer who voluntarily defected to the United States in 2009. When he returned to Iran, he said he had been abducted and tortured by the Americans, and Iran said he was a double-agent sent to spy on the C.I.A.

Are you surprised? I'm not.

Labels: Iranian nuclear program, Shahram Amiri, spying

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:00 PM