TEHRAN, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Iran says it has new evidence that the United States was involved in the disappearance of one its nuclear scientists during a religious pilgrimage.
Shahram Amiri vanished in Saudi Arabia this summer during the annual hajj, just months before details of a secret uranium enrichment plant in Iran were publicly revealed.
Foreign Minister Manochehr Mottaki said Wednesday that it had obtained documents showing that the United States had a hand in the disappearance of Amiri and another Iranian who went missing in Georgia.
ABC News said Mottaki's statement was the first time Tehran had directly accused the United States of being involved in Amiri's disappearance.
The Iranian government contends Amiri was a university researcher specializing in medical uses of radiation; however ABC said Arabic media have reported he actually worked at the uranium facility in Qom.
It was not clear if Tehran considered Amiri a kidnap victim or a defector.
A Middle East analyst, Meir Javedanfa, told ABC that cases such as Amiri could cause the Iranian government to lose trust in the loyalty of its nuclear scientists.
