AN IRANIAN nuclear scientist who claims that he was abducted by the CIA is on his way back to Iran.

Shahram Amiri is first flying to Qatar and will arrive in Tehran on Thursday.

Amiri disappeared while on a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in 2009. He came to the attention of the international community when he appeared in a video, claiming he had been kidnapped by the CIA.

Two more videos were subsequently released; the second shows Amiri denying he had been kidnapped and the third shows him renewing his accusation against the CIA.

The White House denies that Amiri was captured by the agency.

Hassan Ghashghavi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, said that the Islamic Republic has the right to sue the US  for “damages” caused by Amiri’s ill treatment.

In an interview on the national Iranian news channel, Amiri said he was abducted by three Persian-speaking men as he traveled to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, reports the Tehran Times.

Mohammad Karami Raad, a member of Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told Fars News Agency that the abduction of Amiri was an instance of state-sponsored-terrorism by the US.

The US has said that Amiri was a nuclear scientist who deflected and provided valuable information regarding Iran’s nuclear programme. Amiri claims that US interrogators forced a confession from him.