THE TELEGRAPH: Shahram Amiri, the Iranian nuclear scientist, has described the moment he claims to have been abducted at gunpoint by the CIA while on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
Mr Amiri, 32, said he was seized and spirited from the country after being offered a lift while walking towards a mosque.
He gave his account before flying home to Iran on Wednesday after taking refuge at the Iranian Interests Section of the Pakistani embassy in Washington earlier this week.
The US state department has insisted he was in the US of his own free will but Mr Amiri said he was kidnapped by secret agents in Medina, Islam's second holiest city, in May last year.
"A white van stopped in front of me... They told me in Farsi that they were part of another group of pilgrims and said 'We are going towards a mosque and we will be happy to take you as well'," he said.
"When I opened the door to get in and sit down, the person at the back put a gun to my side and said 'Please be quiet, don't make any noise'.
"As I opened the door, one of the passengers pulled out a gun and told me to be quiet. They gave me an injection and when I came around I was in a big plane. I was blindfolded. It was probably a military plane."
He said he was taken to "American territory" and put under intense psychological pressure to accept $10 million to make a video saying he had defected from Iran.
He was then allowed to settle in Tucson, Arizona, and live relatively freely on condition he did not talk about his abduction. >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Wednesday, July 14, 2010
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