TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian nuclear scientist who returned home last week from the United States provided valuable information about the CIA, a semiofficial news agency reported Wednesday, adding that his spy’s tale would be made into a TV movie.
American authorities have claimed Shahram Amiri willingly defected to the U.S. but changed his mind and decided to return home without the $5 million he had been paid for what a U.S. official described as “significant” information about his country’s disputed nuclear program.
The Fars news agency, which is close to Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, quoted an unidentified source as saying Iran’s intelligence agents were in touch with Amiri while he was in the U.S. and that they won an intelligence battle against the CIA.
Iran has portrayed the return of Amiri as a blow to American intelligence services that it says were desperate for inside information on Iran’s nuclear program. Iran has sought to make maximum propaganda gains from the affair, allowing journalists to cover Amiri’s return, sending a senior Foreign Ministry official to greet him and preparing to make a movie about the story.
“This was an intelligence battle between the CIA and us that was designed and managed by Iran,” the source was quoted as saying. “We had set various goals in this battle and, by the grace of God, we achieved all our objectives without our rival getting any real victory.”
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