[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ21VOA.COM
[00:00.00]Last week Iran executed a nuclear scientist on charges of spying for the United States,
[00:07.99]an official said Sunday.
[00:10.18]Officials admitted for the first time that Shahram Amiri had been secretly detained and tried.
[00:19.82]A judicial spokesman said a court sentenced Amiri to death.
[00:25.54]Iran's Supreme Court upheld the sentence.
[00:30.27]The spokesman said, "Amiri gave vital information about the country to the enemy,"
[00:37.51]according to Iran's official news agency IRNA.
[00:42.00]The spokesman did not say why officials had not announced the sentence earlier,
[00:48.24]according to AP news agency.
[00:51.67]Iran hanged Amiri during the same week it executed a number of militants.
[00:59.16]Shahram Amiri, 38, was a university researcher
[01:04.36]who worked for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.
[01:09.09]He is said to have left Iran for Saudi Arabia in 2009 to visit Muslim holy places.
[01:17.79]However, he disappeared and went to the United States.
[01:22.75]While in the U.S., Amiri appeared in several videos.
[01:28.42]The AP news agency reported that the videos gave contradictory information
[01:35.11]about why he was in America.
[01:38.19]In one video, Amiri said that he had been kidnapped
[01:43.15]and that Saudi and U.S. intelligence agents held him against his will.
[01:48.80]In another, he said he wanted to study in America and return to Iran
[01:55.17]if the "opportunity of safe travel" became available.
[02:00.24]His wife and son remained in Iran.
[02:04.29]U.S. officials said they paid Amiri $5 million to leave Iran
[02:11.13]and provide information about its nuclear program.
[02:15.67]At the time, Western countries were increasing efforts
[02:20.64]to limit Iran's nuclear program under then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
[02:27.01]In 2010, Amiri reportedly went to the Pakistani Embassy in Washington
[02:33.62]and asked to be returned to Iran. He returned later that year.
[02:40.05]At first, Iranian officials welcomed him.
[02:44.02]AP reports that he appeared on Iranian TV as a hero.
[02:50.08]But then he disappeared.
[02:53.19]The judiciary spokesman said Amiri's family mistakenly believed
[02:59.48]that he was serving a 10-year prison sentence.
[03:03.06]Last week, news of his death reportedly appeared in a newspaper in his hometown.
[03:11.05]For years, Iran has stated that its nuclear activities
[03:16.54]were not aimed at developing nuclear weapons.
[03:20.85]However, the U.S. says uranium particles found during an investigation last year
[03:27.80]at an Iranian military base probably came from Iran's secret nuclear weapons program.
[03:35.95]The execution of Amiri takes place one year after the United States
[03:42.79]and five world powers reached a nuclear agreement with Iran.
[03:48.12]The deal requires Iran to limit its nuclear development capabilities.
[03:54.84]In exchange, western countries lifted strong economic restrictions on Iran.
[04:02.83]I'm Mario Ritter.