The curious tale of a "missing" Iranian nuclear scientist whom Tehran claims was kidnapped by the United States a year ago took a new twist yesterday.
Shahram Amiri suddenly surfaced in the Iranian interests section of Pakistan's embassy in Washington, seeking refuge and an immediate return to Tehran.
The US said he was free to go.
Analysts in Tehran believe Mr Amiri's repatriation may be rewarded by the release of three American hikers held in Iran since apparently straying across the border from northern Iraq a year ago.
The Pakistani embassy has managed Iran's interests in Washington since the US severed ties with the Islamic republic in April 1980, after the seizure of the US Embassy in Tehran five months earlier.
Mr Amiri "has been in the United States of his own free will", said Philip Crowley, the US State Department spokesman.
A Pakistani diplomat told the BBC's Persian service that Mr Amiri was in good health and there was no sign he had been tortured.
Mr Amiri proclaimed that the "disgraced" US government was the "loser" in the long-running stand-off over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
"They [the Americans] wanted to quietly return me to Iran by some country's airline, so that while denying the whole thing, they can put a cap on [my abduction]. But in the end they couldn't," Mr Amiri said.
The dramatic events seemed to support Iran's allegations that Mr Amiri was abducted by US intelligence agents when he vanished mysteriously during a pilgrimage to Mecca in June last year.
But serious questions remain in a case of political skullduggery, psychological warfare and nuclear espionage that involved the intelligence agencies of Iran, the US and, possibly, Saudi Arabia.
If Mr Amiri was being held against his will in the US, how did he escape the clutches of his CIA interrogators?
Equally, if he defected, as the ABC news network reported in March, why would he now want to return home? ABC had maintained that Mr Amiri's disappearance was "part of a long-planned CIA operation" to get him to abscond and quoted US agents as describing his alleged defection as "an intelligence coup".
Washington has denied both kidnapping Mr Amiri and involvement in his defection. Saudi Arabia has also "deplored" Iranian accusations it played any role in his disappearance.
Ali Ansari, a renowned Iran expert at St Andrews University in Scotland, speculated that Mr Amiri may have had second thoughts after defecting. "Perhaps he was hoping for better treatment."
At the same time, Mr Ansari, who stressed that he had no inside knowledge on the case, said it was possible that, having debriefed Mr Amiri for several months, the CIA had concluded "he didn't have much to say".
If so, the US authorities may have decided to allow Mr Amiri the pretence that he had been held against his will so that he would not face retribution on his return home.
To collude in his escape would mean a readiness by the CIA to face embarrassing accusations of incompetence.
Yet there will be speculation that the US was prepared to accept this in return for a significant pay-off.
Tehran had previously hinted it would trade the three American hikers it has held since last July for a number of Iranians allegedly held in the US, including Mr Amiri.
Iran's hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and other Iranian officials, have denounced them as spies, although no charges have been brought.
Western media had speculated Mr Amiri was an invaluable source of rare human intelligence on Iran's nuclear programme. Three months after his disappearance, the West blew the whistle on a secret uranium enrichment plant under construction near the holy city of Qom.
Those revelations forced short-lived Iranian concessions during nuclear negotiations.
Before he vanished, Mr Amiri, 32, worked at Tehran's Malek Ashtar University, an institution closely connected to the country's powerful Revolutionary Guards.
He has a wife and young daughter still in Tehran. The Iranian regime would have exploited this acutely sensitive pressure point to force him to return and denounce Washington, analysts said.
Adding to the confusion were three contradictory videos purportedly released by Mr Amiri in recent weeks. The first surfaced on June 8 in which he claimed he had been abducted by Saudi and US agents, tortured, forced to say he had defected and was being held against his will at a desert location in Tucson, Arizona.
How he managed to post the video on the internet in such constrained circumstances was never explained.
Within hours a second video posted on YouTube showed a fuller-faced Mr Amiri proclaiming he was safe and voluntarily in the US, pursuing a PhD.
In the third video, which was broadcast by Iranian state television on June 29, a man claiming to be the missing scientist, proclaimed: "I, Shahram Amiri, am a national of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a few minutes ago I succeeded in escaping security agents in Virginia [which is home to the CIA]."
He said he could be "re-arrested at any time" and denounced as a "complete fabrication" the second video in which it was claimed he was living freely in the US.
Iran experts suspect the first and last video may have been fakes staged by the Iranian regime to intimidate others from defecting. Or they could have been genuine videos, made with Mr Amiri's assistance, possibly to ease the pressure on his family in Tehran.
It did not bode well for Iranian intelligence whether Mr Amiri had defected or was kidnapped. Tehran, nevertheless, argued that his disappearance highlighted western perfidy and showed why it could not trust the US in negotiations to resolve the protracted and increasingly tense nuclear dispute.
@Email:mtheodoulou@thenational.ae
Tales of Yusuf Tadros
Adel Esmat (translated by Mandy McClure)
Hoopoe
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The%20Specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.6-litre%204-cylinder%20petrol%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E118hp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20149Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Six-speed%20automatic%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh61%2C500%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
Company%20profile
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Porsche Taycan Turbo specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 1050Nm
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How to improve Arabic reading in early years
One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient
The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers
Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades
Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic
First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations
Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades
Improve the appearance of textbooks
Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings
Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught
Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
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The specs: 2018 Genesis G70
Price, base / as tested: Dh155,000 / Dh205,000
Engine: 3.3-litre, turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 370hp @ 6,000rpm
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Fuel economy, combined: 10.6L / 100km
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The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
Engine: 80 kWh four-wheel-drive
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 402bhp
Torque: 760Nm
Price: From Dh280,000
Schedule for show courts
Centre Court - from 4pm UAE time
Johanna Konta (6) v Donna Vekic
Andy Murray (1) v Dustin Brown
Rafael Nadal (4) v Donald Young
Court 1 - from 4pm UAE time
Kei Nishikori (9) v Sergiy Stakhovsky
Qiang Wang v Venus Williams (10)
Beatriz Haddad Maia v Simona Halep (2)
Court 2 - from 2.30pm
Heather Watson v Anastasija Sevastova (18)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12) v Simone Bolelli
Florian Mayer v Marin Cilic (7)
MATCH INFO
Southampton 0
Manchester City 1 (Sterling 16')
Man of the match: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
Your Guide to the Home
- Level 1 has a valet service if you choose not to park in the basement level. This level houses all the kitchenware, including covetable brand French Bull, along with a wide array of outdoor furnishings, lamps and lighting solutions, textiles like curtains, towels, cushions and bedding, and plenty of other home accessories.
- Level 2 features curated inspiration zones and solutions for bedrooms, living rooms and dining spaces. This is also where you’d go to customise your sofas and beds, and pick and choose from more than a dozen mattress options.
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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
RESULTS - ELITE MEN
1. Henri Schoeman (RSA) 57:03
2. Mario Mola (ESP) 57:09
3. Vincent Luis (FRA) 57:25
4. Leo Bergere (FRA)57:34
5. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) 57:40
6. Joao Silva (POR) 57:45
7. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 57:56
8. Adrien Briffod (SUI) 57:57
9. Gustav Iden (NOR) 57:58
10. Richard Murray (RSA) 57:59
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5