Iran nuke scientist defects to US

ABC News:

An award-winning Iranian nuclear scientist, who disappeared last year under mysterious circumstances, has defected to the CIA and been resettled in the United States, according to people briefed on the operation by intelligence officials.

The officials were said to have termed the defection of the scientist, Shahram Amiri, "an intelligence coup" in the continuing CIA operation to spy on and undermine Iran's nuclear program.

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Amiri, a nuclear physicist in his early 30s, went missing last June three days after arriving in Saudi Arabia on a pilgrimage, according to the Iranian government. He worked at Tehran's Malek Ashtar University, which is closely connected to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, according to the Associated Press.

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According to the people briefed on the intelligence operation, Amiri's disappearance was part of a long-planned CIA operation to get him to defect. The CIA reportedly approached the scientist in Iran through an intermediary who made an offer of resettlement on behalf of the United States.

Since the late 1990s, the CIA has attempted to recruit Iranian scientists and officials through contacts made with relatives living in the United States, according to former U.S. intelligence officials. Case officers have been assigned to conduct hundreds of interviews with Iranian-Americans in the Los Angeles area in particular, the former officials said.

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One Iranian web site reported that Amiri had worked at the Qom facility prior to his defection.

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There is more.

The Saudis probably facilitated the defection during a Haj visit. At least, that is what the Iranians think. It was a coup by the US intelligence service. The Iranians have lost others associated with the program. Some have died mysteriously while others appear to be the victim of hit jobs. It may be one of the most dangerous jobs in Iran, so it is not surprising that the smart ones want to leave. I suspect there are more waiting their opportunity to leave.