Iranian nuclear scientist who claimed U.S. abduction executed for treason

TEHRAN, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Iran confirmed Sunday that it killed a nuclear scientist who cooperated with U.S. intelligence.

The family of Shahram Amiri told the BBC his body had signs of rope marks around his neck, suggesting he was hanged.

The official news agency, IRNA, quoted Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhosein Mohseni Ejini, confirming Amiri's execution, saying he "provided the enemy with vital information of the country."

Iran detained Amiri in 2010, a year after he went missing during a pilgrimage to Mecca. He then turned up in the United States, Politico reported..

Amiri had claimed in a videohe had been abducted while in Saudi Arabia and subjected by the CIA to "intense psychological pressure to reveal sensitive information." He said in the video he was taken to "a house located somewhere that I don't know. They gave me an anesthetic injection."

U.S. officials said they had paid Amiri $5 million over a number of years to provide information on Iran's nuclear program.

Hillary Clinton, who was U.S. Secretary of State at the time, confirmed that Amiri came to the United States "of his own free will and he is free to go. These are decisions that are his alone to make."

Amiri later walked in to the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, D.C. asking to be returned to Iran.

While he initially returned to Iran to a hero's welcome, he was later detained and tried for treason.