Intrigue over Iran’s nuclear programme deepened on Wednesday when Tehran accused the US of involvement in the disappearance of a nuclear scientist it claims vanished after leaving for a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia in late May.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Shahram Amiri has not been heard from since shortly after he entered the Saudi kingdom, a close US ally agitated over Iran’s nuclear programme. Iranian news media reported that Amiri researches nuclear technology uses for medicine, but other reports suggested he worked at a recently disclosed uranium enrichment plant near Qom.

“We have found documents that prove US interference in the disappearance of the Iranian pilgrim Shahram Amiri in Saudi Arabia,” Mottaki told reporters, according to Iran’s state-owned Press TV.

The official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Mottaki as saying, “We hold Saudi Arabia responsible.”

The accusations come as the US and other world powers are threatening Iran with new sanctions if it doesn’t cooperate with UN inspectors regarding its nuclear programme. The scientist’s disappearance raises the possibilities of kidnapping; an intellectual seeking asylum; or a defection arranged by US and Saudi intelligence agencies.

Iranian officials said Saudi Arabia had not responded to inquiries on the scientist’s whereabouts.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said he had no information about the matter, according to the Associated Press. “The case is not familiar to us,” he said.

The Saudi-owned Al Sharq al Awsat newspaper reported that Amiri sought protection in Saudi Arabia. It was not known whether the scientist provided information to the US about the Fordu plant near Qom.

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