Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Shahram Amiri's first interview on the Islamic Republic's news network

Shahram Amiri, the Iranian researcher who disappeared in June of last year and is now en route to Tehran, gave an interview to the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN) while still in Washington, D.C., at the Iranian interests section maintained by the Pakistani embassy. (For a post on the first videos released by Amiri in early June of this year, please click here).

The following is footage of Amiri's interview, of which the 8 PM news show only broadcast segments. A translation follows. I have tried to stay as true as possible to the exact phrases used, even if they appear somewhat convoluted:


Anchorman:
Thank you for watching '20.' The abducted Iranian scientist is en route to Tehran. The Foreign Ministry spokesman gave news of Shahram Amiri's departure from American soil and said that he would soon arrive in Iran from a third country. [Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin] Mehmanparast stressed that the US's responsibilities in the abduction of Amiri would be pursued through various legal and diplomatic channels.


Shahram Amiri, the abducted scientist who took refuge in the Iranian interests section in Washington on Tuesday, said that the White House was responsible for his abduction. Amiri said this about the manner of his arrest in Saudi Arabia...


Shahram Amiri:
After I crossed about two streets, a white van stopped in front of me. There were three individuals in the automobile: a driver, a bearded person wearing an official suit, and a person sitting in the back of the automobile with the same well-grounded and official look.


The spoke to me in Farsi and said, "We're from another group and we're going to the Nabi Mosque. If you'd like, we'd be delighted to take you there."


I'd halted out of respect for the fact that they had stopped. I went towards the automobile to get in. When I opened the door to get in, the passenger in the back seat stuck a weapon into my side and said, "Please be quiet and don't make any noise."


Anchorman:
Shahram Amiri said, "After I managed to escape from the American agents and posted a video on the Internet, I was arrested once again in the state of Virginia. When the American agents became aware that this video had been made and that it might be broadcast by Iran or Internet sites, they decided to make another video of me through which they could announce that I was on my way back to Iran."


The Iranian scientist, given the many details which are known about his abduction, said that he would cover these topics with media outlets after arriving on Iranian soil.


The Iranian scientist also gave explanations about the remarks of leaders of the Zionist regime about a request to the US to deliver him to that regime for propaganda purposes...


Shahram Amiri:
In fact, Israel wanted to take responsibility for this case. It said, If you're unable to force this individual to cooperate, we're ready to take responsibility for this abduction and to take custody of this individual and to make him talk. And if he doesn't talk, we'll keep him in our secret prisons and we can transfer information in his name to the world press, and his name, we can say that he has cooperated with us and this information, this false information, can be used against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Press TV broadcast more segments of the same interview with subtitles in English: