Iranian scientist heads home to official welcome

TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian nuclear scientist, who emerged in Washington saying he had been abducted by U.S. agents, was heading for an official welcome in Iran Wednesday in a murky tale that goes to the heart of U.S.-Iranian mistrust.

Washington denied kidnapping Shahram Amiri and insisted he had lived freely in the United States. A U.S. official said, however, that the United States, eager for details of Tehran's nuclear program, had obtained information from him.

"We got useful information from him, and the Iranians got Amiri," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Iran accuses the CIA of kidnapping Amiri, who worked for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, a year ago in Saudi Arabia.

Iran is locked in a dispute with the United States and its allies over Tehran's nuclear program, which the West says is designed to produce nuclear weapons and Iranian officials say aims to generate power.

The mystery surrounding Amiri fueled speculation that he may have passed information about Iran's nuclear program to U.S. intelligence. ABC News reported in March that Amiri had defected and was helping the CIA.

Three months after Amiri's disappearance, Iran disclosed the existence of a hitherto-secret uranium enrichment site, near the Shi'ite holy city of Qom.

Contradicting the American account that Amiri had been in the United States of his own free will, Amiri painted a dramatic picture of a cloak-and-dagger operation to abduct him.

"While I was on the pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, a car offered me a lift...a gun was pointed at me as soon as I got in the car," Amiri told state television. "Then I was drugged ... I was transferred to America by a military plane."

Iran's Foreign Ministry said Amiri, who surfaced at the Iranian interests section of the Pakistani embassy in Washington Monday, was now on his way back to Iran.

"With the effective cooperation of Pakistan's embassy in Washington, a few minutes ago Shahram Amiri left American soil and is heading back to Iran via a third country," spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on television.

Another ministry official, Hasan Qashqavi, said Amiri was traveling via Qatar. "He will be welcomed by officials at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport Thursday," he said, according to state TV.

Amiri is provisionally expected to land at roughly 2300 GMT (Wednesday).

TEHRAN TO PURSUE CASE

U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley appeared to anticipate further, more detailed accusations from Tehran following Amiri's return.

"He has left the United States. If he wants to talk about his experiences here that's up to him," Crowley said.

"Once he gets back to Iran I suspect that he'll have a variety of things to say and my advice would be to take what he says with a grain of salt."

Iran said the Foreign Ministry would pursue Amiri's case through legal and diplomatic channels to nail down what part the U.S. government played in the saga.

The State Department said the United States did not kidnap Amiri, but it has not addressed whether another country might have abducted him and turned him over.

A man identifying himself as Amiri has variously said in recent videos that he was kidnapped and tortured; that he was studying in the United States; and that he had fled U.S. agents and wanted human rights groups to help him return to Iran.

Amiri was quoted by Iranian state TV Tuesday as saying: "My kidnapping was a disgraceful act for America."

Intelligence about the Iranian nuclear program is at a premium for the United States, which fears that a nuclear-armed Iran would threaten its close ally, Israel, as well as oil supplies from the Gulf, and friendly nations in Europe.

Asked why Amiri was going back, a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said:

"He may well be feeling some pressure from back home. The Iranians aren't beyond using family to influence people. That could be one explanation for his contradictory messages."

He also sought to cast doubt on Amiri's account, saying the fact that he had been free to make videos and to leave undercut his claim of coercion.

Amiri said he would reveal more details on his arrival in Iran. "I have a very long and detailed story ... I have explained some key parts in the footage broadcast in the past."

(Reporting by Ramin Mostafavi; Editing by Peter Millership)