Shahram Amiri (8 November 1977-3 August 2016) was an Iranian nuclear scientist who was executed in August 2016 after being accused of passing top secret information to the United States.
Biography[]
Shahram Amiri was born on 8 November 1977 in Kermanshah, Iran, and he became an expert on radioactive isotopes after studying at the Malek-Ashtar University of Technology in Tehran. In 2003, he set up missile training courses, and he had access to top secret government information while he served as a nuclear scientist. In 2009, he was coerced into working for the United States while he was making the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, with Amiri claiming that he had been kidnapped, while the Americans claimed that he had defected. Amiri later changed his mind and returned to Iran, unsure of his choice to head to America. He was sentenced to ten years in prison, but he was instead executed by hanging in Tehran on 3 August 2016, and his body was returned to his family with rope marks on his neck. His death was announced on CNN on 7 August 2016.