The Defector Who Returned to Iran

The bizarre saga of Shahram Amiri, a broad-shouldered young nuclear scientist who was executed last week in Iran, is the stuff of literary thrillers and movie blockbusters. News of his death was first reported by Amiri’s family after his body, with strangulating-rope marks on his neck, was returned by the state for ritual washing and burial. Depending on whom you listen to, Amiri was either a defecting spy for the United States or a double agent for Iran. The enmity between the two countries briefly played out over this one man.