Iranian scientist will return home soon: FM

Monitoring Desk

TEHRAN : Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says an Iranian scientist, who was detained in the US on groundless charges, has been freed and will return to the country if tested negative for coronavirus.

“He is free,” Zarif told reporters on Monday after taking part in a session of the Iranian Parliament’s Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, adding, “Sirous Asgari has been acquitted of his charges and if he tested negative for COVID-19, he could return to the country on the first flight (bound to Iran).”

He noted that the Iranian Foreign Ministry has been working hard to pave the way for the scientist’s return to the country and all necessary measures have been taken in this regard.

Asgari, a professor of material sciences at Sharif University of Technology, was arrested in the United States in mid-2017.

Back then, the FBI alleged the scientist had shared information about a project he had conducted on a sabbatical in the US five years before with his students.

US legal authorities then charged him with withholding information in the process of visa application, circumventing the sanctions, and transferring technology to Iran.

Asgari has repeatedly pleaded for his release since March, complaining about unsanitary detention conditions and overcrowding at the Louisiana facility, where he was kept.(PRESSTV)