US-detained Iranian scholar back home

Iranian scientist Mojtaba Atarodi, who had been detained and put under house arrest in the US, has returned to Iran following his release, Press TV reports.

Upon his arrival at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport on Saturday, Atarodi told reporters he was only doing an academic research when he was detained trying to buy some simple equipment for his personal lab, which, contrary to the claims by the US government, had no dual-use technology.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast announced the news of his freedom on Friday.

Atarodi was detained on December 7, 2011 in Los Angeles over allegations that he had violated the US export laws by purchasing high-tech American laboratory equipment.

Professor Atarodi had been sentenced to at least 57 months in jail and refused bail on several occasions. He was released after serving around 16 months after follow-ups by Iran’s Foreign Ministry.

“Except for the detention period and my transfer to prison, they treated me well. Later they realized their mistake and they decided to release me,” Atarodi told reporters.

“The scientific community in the US was not happy about it. They said that it only brought shame to the US, because I was there only to attend a scientific forum,” he said.

“The US authorities knew about my academic background. Even the prosecutor general told me I should have never been arrested, jailed or tried in the first place. He said he was embarrassed to put me on trial, but he had no choice. He said he did it after receiving orders from Washington,” the scientists pointed out.

The 55-year-old scientist is a microchip expert and assistant professor at Iran’s Sharif University of Technology. He is the author or coauthor of dozens of scientific papers dealing with microchip technology.

International lawyer Franklin Lamb says the Iranian professor’s arrest was another attempt by the US to mount pressure on Tehran with the purpose of impeding Iran’s progress in the fields of science and technology.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry says the US is a high-risk destination for Iranian travelers, citing the government-instigated trend of Iranophobia and repeated incidents in which Iranian citizens are threatened, arrested, subjected to intensive interrogation, or even killed under suspicious circumstances.