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Journalism of Courage
One of Irans most prominent former diplomats,an ally of President Hassan Rouhani,has returned to the country,ending his unofficial exile in the United States,state news media reported Tuesday.
The former diplomat,Seyed Hossein Mousavian,who for many years was the spokesman of Irans nuclear negotiation team,left Tehran for Princeton University in 2009 after hard-liners accused him of espionage during earlier rounds of nuclear talks with European powers.
I have returned to Iran to stay, he was quoted as saying by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.
The publicity given to his homecoming suggested that Irans top leader,Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,remained confident in Rouhanis handling of the nuclear negotiations,which have resulted in a six-month partial freeze of Irans nuclear activities in exchange for the relaxation of some Western sanctions on the country.
At Princeton,where Mousavian was a research scholar in the Program on Science and Global Security,he also acted as an unofficial Iranian government representative,answering queries or commenting for international news media about the nuclear programme and the prospects for improved relations between Iran and the United States. It is unclear whether he also met with representatives of the United States government.
Mousavian was a member of the 2003-5 nuclear negotiation team led by Rouhani,who was then the secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council.
Mousavians future turned uncertain in 2007 when he was arrested after the president at the time,Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,accused him of having leaked information to his European counterparts. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment for endangering national security but was allowed to travel to the United States. Two of his former close associates were sentenced to 10-year terms under similar charges.
One acquaintance of Mousavian,said,The fact that he is back in Tehran now shows the political environment is perhaps more receptive to him.
