First the Russian deep-cover spy ring. Now that Iranian scientist “missing” for the last year has turned up in the Pakistani embassy in Washington. The Iranians claim he was kidnapped by the CIA; the U.S. denies that and suggests (without officially saying so) that the scientist defected.
The Pakistani Iranian interests section is the proxy for the Iranians in Washington since the countries do not maintain diplomatic relations. It now appears that the scientist wants to return to Iran, and Iran says it’s making arrangements to repatriate him.
But the circumstances of his disappearance remain murky at best. As the New York Times puts it: “If the Iranian version is true, it is not clear how the man escaped his alleged captors to reach the Pakistani Embassy. If the second version is accurate, it is not clear why he would want to escape, or whether he had been taken under duress.”
