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U.S. Freed Top Iranian Scientist as Part of Secret Talks Ahead of Geneva Deal
(Times of Israel) Mitch Ginsburg - The U.S. in April released a top Iranian scientist, Mojtaba Atarodi, who had been arrested in 2011 for attempting to acquire equipment that could be used for Iran's military-nuclear programs, the Times of Israel has been told. American and Iranian officials have been meeting secretly in Oman on and off for years, according to Israeli intelligence analyst Ronen Solomon. In the past three years, as a consequence of those talks, Iran released three American prisoners via Oman, and the U.S. responded in kind. Atarodi was the fourth Iranian prisoner to be released. Solomon, who compiled a profile of Atarodi, believes the scientist played an important role in Iran's missile and nuclear programs. "There is no doubt in my mind that Atarodi came to the U.S. at the behest of the logistics wing of the IRGC [the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps]," Solomon said.