Mystery deepens about Iranian nuclear scientist

Mystery about an Iranian nuclear scientist deepened today after he appeared at the Pakistani Embassy compound in Washington claiming that he was abducted by the CIA and now wants to go back home, but the US officials said he arrived in the country on his own will.

Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri yesterday surfaced at the Iranian intersection at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, days after he alleged in a video on You Tube that he had been abducted by the US spies from Saudi Arabia. Iran has no diplomatic ties with the US since 1979 Islamic revolution and Pakistani Embassy looks after Iranian interests in the US.

"This is an individual that was here on his own free will and he's leaving on his own free will. He's here and he's free to go. We don't hold him and therefore he's not part of any exchange," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Amiri, 35, disappeared while on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in June 2009, surfacing in videos but otherwise out of sight until the latest bizarre twist in the case.

However, the New York Times said Amiri provided information about Iran's nuclear weapons programme and then developed second thoughts, walked into the Iranian Interests Section of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington on Monday night and declared that he wanted a ticket back to Tehran.

"Clearly the latest chapter in the saga of Amiri, a specialist in radiation detection, was an embarrassment to American intelligence agencies and offered a peephole view of what is informally called the "brain drain" programme to lure Iranian scientists and engineers out of their country," The New York Times said.

The daily said Amiri was described as an important confirming source about the Iranian nuclear programme, but he was considered too junior and too removed from the programme's central leadership to have deep knowledge.

"According to an American intelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Amiri used his expertise in radiation detection to monitor employee safety at many of Iran's atomic plants and facilities," it said.

"Let me say that Amiri has been in the United States of his own free will. And he is free to go," secretary of state Hillary Clinton told reporters.

"In fact, he was scheduled to travel to Iran yesterday but was unable to make all of the necessary arrangements to reach Iran through transit countries," Clinton said in response to a question.

In contrast, Clinton said Iran continues to hold three young Americans against their will.

"And we reiterate our request that they be released and allowed to return to their families on a humanitarian basis," she said.