I'm Right Again Dot Com "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and was Hanged" or "The Curious Silence from Washington"
Maybe not so curious, knowing how tightlipped the CIA has to be. This News Hound was first enlightened this past weekend by Xfinity, the Internet service provided by Comcast, the Internet giant, that Shahram Amiri, Iranian Kurdish Nuclear Scientist, had been hanged by the Ayatollahs. Just exactly when this occurred is not clear, but maybe just after the US had, last week, jarred loose some $447-million in funds Iran had paid for weapons. The funds were short-stopped by our government 'way back in 1979 and held in escrow since the hostage-taking at the U.S. embassy. (Better start taking notes).
Associated Press released a disjointed story over last weekend from which the Arizona Daily Star extracted information that Amiri had spent some time in Tucson since he had reportedly defected to the US in 2009. We had no idea who he was then nor the reason for his presence here. (Of course: the US was hiding him and he came here voluntarily.)
All this, including the defection (now reported to be a double defection), was news to me, but not to the Iranian people, because in 2010, Shahram had appeared at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington and allegedly told Al Jazeera, the Arabian news network that he had been kidnapped at gunpoint by Farsi-speaking C.I.A. Agents in Medina, Saudi Arabia in 2009 and promised $50,000 to reveal secrets about Iran's Nuclear program—but he had refused the offer and demanded his return to his wife and son in Iran.
According to Al Jazeera, "Shahram was greeted as a hero in Tehran, and was shown being greeted by his wife and son." (Along with showers of flowers and adulation in the press).
Apparently when asked about it, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed that Amiri asked to be allowed to return home and the US did not interfere.
Then, Amini seemed to have fallen into a media black hole until Al-Jazeera released this last Sunday, "According to Gholamhassien Mohseni Ejeie of Mizam News (An Iranian quasi-governmental agency), "Shahram Amini was hanged for revealing Iran's top secrets to the USA. Having access to highly confidential and vital information of the regime, Amini had provided this to Iran's Number One Enemy, America." Al-Jazeera goes on to explain that Iran claimed Amini was provided attorneys and his case was reviewed by Iran's highest court.
I will speculate: Amiri learned that his mother, father, wife and son were threatened. He will eventually be declared a hero.
What can we take away from this tragic episode? Iran's promise of truth and transparency regarding their nuclear program is a sham and lie, and we must treat any nation that declares us to be their Number One Enemy, to be ours as well. (Re-establish the restrictions!)
-Phil Richardson, Observer of the human condition and storyteller. "He goes doddering on into his old age, making a public nuisance of himself." - Joseph L. Mencken
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