Iranian top nuclear scientist executed after controversial detention since 2010

An Iranian nuclear scientist detained since 2010 has been executed, his family has told the BBC.

Shahram Amiri’s mother said the body of her son had been returned to their hometown with rope marks around his neck, showing that he had been hanged.

He was later buried. Amiri had been held at a secret location after returning from the US, where he said he had been forcibly taken by the CIA.

Some reports say he had in-depth knowledge of Iran’s nuclear programme.

Mr Amiri, who was born in 1977, went missing after taking a pilgrimage to Mecca in 2009.

He surfaced in the US a year later saying he had been kidnapped and put under “intense psychological pressure to reveal sensitive information” by the CIA.

In a video recording – apparently made in the US – he said: “They took me to a house located somewhere that I didn’t know. They gave me an anaesthetic injection.”

In another video he claimed he had escaped from US custody. He returned to Tehran in 2010 to a hero’s welcome.