Iran says "abducted" scholar is not a nuke scientist

Tehran, July 15 (ANI): An Iranian Foreign Ministry official dismissed reports that Shahram Amiri, who was "abducted" by the U.S. last year and was recently released, is a nuclear scientist.

"Shahram Amiri is not a nuclear scientist and we reject it," Xinhua quoted Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hassan Qashqavi as telling reporters at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport.

"He is a researcher at one of the universities in Iran," Qashqavi added.

Amiri, 32, who had gone missing on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia in June last year and arrived in Tehran early in the morning, told reporters that he was kidnapped by the CIA and the abduction was part of the U.S. campaign to add political pressures to Iran over its nuclear program.

The Iranian scholar said he is just a "simple researcher," without any expertise on nuclear technology, or knowledge and access to Iran's nuclear sites. (ANI)