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Iran studio plans movie on 'abducted' scientist
by Staff Writers
Tehran (AFP) July 21, 2010


A government-linked Iranian studio said on Wednesday it plans to make a television movie about Shahram Amiri, the Tehran scientist who claims he was abducted by US spies last year.

Amirhossein Ashtiyanipour, a director at Sima Film, said a "young group of movie school graduates" had been hired to write the script for the movie but gave no further details.

The project was confirmed by Fars news agency, which reported Wednesday that Sima Film is to make a telefilm of the story of Amiri, "his hostage-taking and his return to Iran."

Amiri, a scientist who surfaced in Washington last week after going missing for more than a year, claims he was abducted by US agents while on a pilgrimage in the Saudi city of Medina in June 2009.

US officials have repeatedly denied his claims of abduction, insisting he was in the United States of his own free will. But they acknowledged that Washington "had been in contact with him" during his stay.

Amiri returned to Tehran on Thursday and in an interview with state television said the US attempted to pressure him into confessing that he was a "spy" and be exchanged with three US hikers in custody of Tehran.

US media reports said far from being abducted, Amiri defected to the United States and was paid millions of dollars to spill Iran's nuclear secrets.

earlier related report
Iran supports three insurgent groups in Iraq: US general
Washington (AFP) July 21, 2010 - Iran is supporting three Shiite extremist groups in Iraq that have been attempting to attack US bases, General Ray Odierno, the top US commander in Iraq, said Wednesday.

For the past four years the US military has blamed Iran for supporting violent anti-US groups operating in Iraq, but has been unable to establish a clear link with the government in Tehran.

"The Iranians... continue to fund, train and provide weapons and ammunition to Shiite extremist groups," Odierno told reporters here.

The Iranians have "gone to a more sophisticated program with a smaller set of extremists" and are now focusing on three groups, which he identified as Ketaib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq (League of the Righteous), and the Promise Day Brigade.

"It's very difficult to say if the extremist groups are directly connected to the Iranian government," he said.

"But we do know that many of them live in Iran, many of them get trained in Iran, and many of them get weapons from Iran," he said.

Odierno said US officials believe that Iranian Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force is involved in training and funding the groups.

Ketaib Hezbollah detonated a truck loaded with explosives at a joint US-Iraqi patrol post in 2007, Odierno said, but failed in two attempts earlier this year at a similar bombing.

On July 13 Odierno detailed a plot in which he said Ketaib Hezbollah planned an attack in recent weeks, prompting the US army to increase its security measures.

The groups are targeting US bases in Iraq that are not withdrawing soldiers, and will not influence the pace of the US withdrawal from Iraq, he said.

According to US polls cited by Odierno, 85 percent of Iraqis reject Iranian interference in Iraqi politics.

US combat troops are set to leave Iraq by September 1, but a 50,000-strong training and advisory force will remain until December 2011.

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NUKEWARS
US watchdog moves to smother Iran trade
Washington (AFP) July 20, 2010
A top US financial watchdog outlined fresh measures to isolate Iran Tuesday, as Washington attempts to ramp up pressure on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Schapiro told Congress she was working on measures that would make it easier for companies to abandon their stake in firms that trade with Iran. The rules would "make it c ... read more


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