Iran says Saudis seized atom expert

Iran says Saudis seized atom expert
By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
Published: December 8 2009 17:26 | Last updated: December 8 2009 17:55
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c1e4b2c4-e41d-11de-bed0-00144feab49a.html


Iran accused Saudi Arabia on Tuesday of handing over a senior Iranian nuclear scientist to the US.

Shahram Amiri, thought to be in his early 30s, vanished in Mecca on May 31, while on a pilgrimage. He worked at Iran’s nuclear plant in Natanz, where uranium is being enriched.

His disappearance has stoked tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, two regional rivals who not only see themselves as leading powers in the Middle East but also the respective guardians of Shia and Sunni Muslims.

Mr Amiri, who has won a national award for services to Tehran’s nuclear programme, was a physics graduate and also worked as a researcher at Malek-e Ashtar University of Technology, affiliated to the defence ministry. His wife is thought to be still in Iran.

Why Mr Amiri disappeared in Saudi Arabia is unclear, but some western diplomats in Tehran suspect that he may have defected. A former deputy defence minister, Alireza Asgari, defected in 2006 while in Turkey.

Iranian officials believe, however, that Mr Amiri was kidnapped as part of a US policy to halt Iran’s nuclear programme.

Ramin Mehmanparast, a foreign ministry spokesman, told the semi-official Mehr news agency that Mr Amiri “has been handed over to Washington by Riyadh”. He added that Mr Amiri was “now one of the 11 Iranians in US prisons”.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said it had no knowledge of the Iranian allegation and declined to comment.

A western observer in Riyadh said: “Iran brings up this subject whenever it wants to divert attention away from the standstill on its nuclear issue. The scientist could be anywhere. The Saudi government does not control movement of pilgrims after they leave the country.”

Analysts in Tehran think that Arab countries – notably Saudi Arabia – are pressing the west to take firm action against Iran’s nuclear programme, which they see as a threat.

Iranian observers suspect that some Arab states have even urged military strikes against Tehran’s nuclear facilities, provided that the US – and not Israel – carries out any such operation.

The alleged handover of Mr Amiri to Washington could fuel Iranian concerns that Saudi Arabia is actively collaborating with the US to gather information about Tehran’s nuclear programme. Iran and Saudi Arabia are regional rivals, supporting opposing factions in Iraq and Lebanon.

A rebellion in Yemen has brought the rivalry between the two countries to the fore.

Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of encouraging Yemen’s insurgents, who come from the Zaydi Shia sect. But Tehran adamantly denies being involved.

“It is not very clear if Iran is involved in Yemen, even though it sounds plausible because it is the natural ideology of this regime,” said a western diplomat in Tehran.

For their part, Iran’s Shia clergy have long suspected Saudi Arabia of supporting Sunni minorities in the south-east.

Meanwhile, the Saudi government’s decision to fingerprint every Iranian pilgrim who visits Mecca has infuriated Iran, with state television showing old men and women waiting for hours to be processed by Saudi officials.

Additional reporting by Abeer Allam in Riyadh