US official dismisses new footage of Iranian missing scientist

A US official in Washington said the allegation made in the latest footage of the missing scientist that the CIA has kidnapped Shahram Amiri is "ludicrous."

The official said on Tuesday: “It's ludicrous for anyone to suggest that this individual was kidnapped by the United States.”

Reuters reports that yesterday for a second time, Iran’s state television aired footage of the missing Iranian nuclear scientist, Shahram Amiri, in which the scientist claims he has escaped from CIA agents and is in imminent danger of being arrested again.

The unidentified US official says: “If he's able to produce videos, it defies human logic to allege that he's somehow been held against his will by Americans.”

This is the third video to emerge in the past month giving conflicting accounts of what has happened to Amiri.

Sharam Amiri is a nuclear researcher who used to work for Iran’s Atomic Organization. He disappeared during a pilgrimage trip to Saudi Arabia. Soon after, Iran accused Saudi Arabia of assisting the US to kidnap Amiri.

In early June, Iran first released footage of a man, claiming to be Shahram Amiri. On an internet video chat connection, he claimed that he was “kidnapped” by the US and was being “tortured.”

Soon after there appeared a video clip on You Tube of a man also claiming to be Amiri saying he had gone to the US to continue his studies and hoped to return to Iran at the end of his studies.

The third and latest video of him which was aired by the Iranian state television again claims he has escaped US agents and is in hiding. In this video, the man who claims to be Amiri says that the You Tube video is “an utter lie” and urges human rights groups to help him return to Iran.

He says he cannot contact his family in Iran and charges the US with whatever may befall him.

Reuters reports that the man in all the videos looks similar to photographs of Amiri.

According to Reuters, “in March, ABC news said Amiri had defected to the United States and was helping the CIA. A CIA spokeswoman declined to comment on the U.S. network's report.”

Earlier Iran summoned the Swiss Ambassador who handles US interests in Iran to show them evidence that Amiri was kidnapped by the US.