An Iranian documentary filmmaker who returned home after reportedly spending two months in US custody has said the FBI held him in solitary confinement and put "pressure" on him, state media reported Saturday.
Hossein Dehbashi, 38, was reportedly arrested on June 6 for forging a letter in the name of the director of communications of the United Nations supporting his immigration application to the United States, the English-language Press TV said on its website.
The website quoted Dehbashi as saying upon arrival in Iran that he had been arrested for "incomplete immigration documents" and was held in a "FBI jail called super maximum security institution" in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Farsi-language state television reported on its website that Dehbashi was arrested by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US immigration department.
Dehbashi said he was in the United States for four years working mainly on a documentary about the history of Iran, including the days under the late shah.
"During the past two years, my house was checked by the FBI and I was under pressure. Five months ago they checked my house and took away my passport," he was quoted as saying on the website.
"I was arrested... and also held in solitary confinement."
He said the FBI objected to "some documents I had concerning the sale of US equipment to Iran before the revolution."
"I think the United States wanted to use me (in dealing with Iran), but they realised I was not important for the Iranian government," the filmmaker added.
He said he was released after the UN official who was reported to have written the letter supporting his immigration application "did not confirm the forgery," state TV website said.
Dehbashi had entered the United States in May 2006 to work on a documentary about the United Nations and in February 2007 he opted to become a permanent resident in US, the Press TV website said.
Earlier this month, an Iranian scientist Shahram Amiri returned to Tehran after surfacing in Washington a year after he disappeared from Saudi Arabia while on a pilgrimage.
Amiri claims he was kidnapped by US spies who later wanted to swap him in exchange for three American hikers held in custody by Tehran since exactly a year ago.
US media reports say far from being abducted, Amiri defected to the United States and was paid millions of dollars to spill Iran's nuclear secrets.
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
