An Iranian scientist held for more than a year in California on charges of violating US sanctions arrived in Muscat on Friday, after being freed in what the Omani foreign ministry said was a humanitarian gesture. Mojtaba Atarodi, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Sharif University of Technology, had been detained for allegedly buying high-tech US laboratory equipment, previous Iranian media reports said.
The US sanctions are linked to Tehran's disputed nuclear programme, which it says is for peaceful purposes only but Washington says is aimed at manufacturing a nuclear weapon. Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said Atarodi would return home on Saturday. Oman, a US-allied Gulf Arab state which enjoys good relations with Tehran, has previously helped mediate the release of Western prisoners held by the Islamic republic.
Authorities in the Sultanate had worked with US officials to speed up Atarodi's case and return him home, the Omani foreign ministry said in a statement carried by local media. It said Oman would provide medical attention for Atarodi until his return to Iran, giving no further details.
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