'Abducted' Iranian scientist heads back to Iran

Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri, who surfaced in Washington more than a year after Tehran claimed he was abducted by US spies, is on his way home, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Before leaving Washington where he took refuge on Tuesday in Iran's Interests Section office, Amiri told Iranian Press TV channel he will reveal the details of his "ordeal" to local media on reaching Tehran.

"A few moments ago, Shahram Amiri left US soil ... for Iran following efforts taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran and the effective cooperation of the Pakistani embassy in Washington," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.

He said Amiri was first headed to a "third country" from where he would continue to Iran, adding that the head of the Iran Interests Section in Washington, Mostafa Rahmani, saw him off.

Repeating accusation that Amiri was kidnapped by US agents, Mehmanparast said Iran would continue to pursue his case "legally and diplomatically."

Amiri disappeared from Saudi Arabia in May 2009, sparking accusations by Iranian officials that he was kidnapped by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Washington denied the allegations amid speculation and US media reports that he had defected to the United States.

Clinton: Amiri is free to go home

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters on Tuesday there was nothing stopping Amiri returning to Iran.

"He's free to go. He was free to come. These decisions are his alone to make," she said.

Clinton called on Tehran to release three American hikers being held in Iran and to provide more information on former FBI agent Robert Levinson who disappeared during a business trip to Iran.

Iran accuses the United States and Saudi Arabia of abducting Amiri, who worked for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization. U.S. and Saudi officials have denied the accusation.

Meanwhile, Iran summoned the Swiss ambassador to Tehran earlier this month and handed over documents which it said showed Amiri had been kidnapped by the United States. U.S. interests in Tehran are handled by the Swiss embassy.

But in a twist to the bizarre saga which has baffled the media for several months, US officials confirmed on Tuesday that they had been in touch with Amiri since his arrival in the United States.

US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Amiri "has been here for some time, I'm not going to specify for how long, but he has chosen to return."

"The United States government has maintained contact with him," he told reporters.

Crowley refused to comment on whether Amiri had provided the United States with intelligence but said US officials had been in contact with him.

US television network ABC first reported Amiri's defection in March and quoted officials saying it was an "intelligence coup" in efforts to undermine Iran's nuclear programme.

Amiri to reveal 'abduction' details once he reaches home

Amiri himself has insisted US agents had kidnapped him.

"My abduction is a detailed story," he told Press TV channel in an interview given in Washington soon after he reached the Interests Section.

Amiri said he will reveal the details of his abduction to the Iranian media on reaching home.

"When I am hopefully in my dear country Iran, I can speak to the media and my own people with ease of mind and tell them about my ordeal over the past 14 months, incidents that have been a mystery to many," he said in remarks posted on the channel's English website.

"In Iran, I will thoroughly clarify the allegations made by foreign media and the US government which, in fact, have targeted my reputation."

Amiri's saga has been tied to growing international pressure over Tehran's controversial nuclear programme, which Iran says is for peaceful purpose, but many nations fear masks a weapons drive.

In June several Internet videos emerged featuring a man purporting to be Amiri who claimed to have escaped from US agents in Virginia.

Prior to his disappearance, Amiri worked in Tehran's Malek Ashtar University of Technology, which is believed to be close to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.

When I am hopefully in my dear country Iran, I can speak to the media and my own people with ease of mind and tell them about my ordeal over the past 14 months, incidents that have been a mystery to many

Shahram Amiri, the Iranian nuclear scientist

Conflicting videos

Confusing video footage of Amiri was aired in the past weeks. In one video, a man identified as Amiri, said he was taken to the United States and tortured.

In another video on the Internet, a man also said to be the scientist said he was studying in the United States.

In a third video aired on June 29, a man describing himself as Amiri said he had fled from U.S. "agents" and was in hiding, urging human rights groups to help him to return to Iran.

On June 29, Iranian television screened a video of a man claiming to be Amiri and saying that he had managed to escape from the hands of U.S. intelligence agents in Virginia.

"I could be re-arrested at any time by U.S. agents... I am not free and I'm not allowed to contact my family. If something happens and I do not return home alive, the U.S. government will be responsible," he said.

U.S. officials have dismissed the allegations in the Iranian broadcast.

Working with the CIA

Amiri disappeared in June 2009 after arriving in Saudi Arabia for a pilgrimage. Iran accused U.S. agents of abducting him with the help of Saudi intelligence services.

U.S. television network ABC reported in March that Amiri, in his early 30s, had defected and was working with the Central Intelligence Agency.

The ABC report said that U.S. agents described the defection as "an intelligence coup" in efforts to undermine Iran's controversial nuclear program.

Amiri's disappearance "was part of a long-planned CIA operation to get him to defect," ABC reported. US officials have rejected these allegations.

Tehran initially refused to acknowledge Amiri's involvement in Iran's nuclear program, which the West fears is being used to develop nuclear weapons and which Iran says is designed to generate electricity.

Three months after Amiri's disappearance, Iran disclosed the existence of its second uranium enrichment site, near the central holy Shiite city of Qom, further heightening tension over the Islamic state's atomic activities.

Iranian authorities have repeatedly accused the United States of kidnapping and illegally detaining Iranians, including a former deputy defense minister who disappeared in 2007.

Some Iranian media have linked the fate of three U.S. citizens, arrested near the Iraqi border a year ago where they said they were hiking and held on suspicion of spying, to the case of alleged Iranian detainees in the United States.

But Iranian authorities ruled out the possibility of any prisoner exchange.