Report: CIA paid Iranian scientist $5 million

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A newspaper is reporting that the CIA paid an Iranian nuclear scientist $5 million to provide intelligence on Iran's nuclear program. The scientist, Shahram Amiri, returned to Iran on Wednesday to a hero's welcome after claiming he was abducted by U.S. agents and then offered $50 million to stay in the U.S. The U.S. says Amiri...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A newspaper is reporting that the CIA paid an Iranian nuclear scientist $5 million to provide intelligence on Iran's nuclear program.

The scientist, Shahram Amiri, returned to Iran on Wednesday to a hero's welcome after claiming he was abducted by U.S. agents and then offered $50 million to stay in the U.S. The U.S. says Amiri was a willing defector who changed his mind and asked to go back to Iran.

The Washington Post said in its online edition late Wednesday that Amiri had been working for the CIA for more than a year. It said he was paid $5 million out of a secret program aimed at inducing scientists and others with information on Iran's nuclear program to defect.

Amiri says he had no classified information.

» Read the Washington Post story: U.S. paid Iranian nuclear scientist $5 million for aid to CIA, officials say

» Previous coverage of this story on syracuse.com

The Associated PressThis frame grab image taken from a video posted on YouTube in late June shows a man who identifies himself as Shahram Amiri, an Iranian citizen, saying he was in the U.S. at the time of the recording and that the date is June 23, 2010. In this video, which emerged after three previous conflicting videos, Amiri, urges his family not to worry about his safety and that he hopes to return home to Iran soon. Amiri, who sought refuge at a Pakistani embassy office in Washington Monday and who Iran claims was abducted, is free to return to his homeland, the State Department said Tuesday.