Imprisoned Physicist Honored For Refusing To Work On Iran's Nuclear Program

New submitter I3MOUNTAINS writes "Omid Kokabee, a University of Texas graduate student who has been imprisoned in Iran for more than two years, received the American Physical Society's Andrei Sakharov human rights prize for refusing to collaborate on the country's nuclear program. In May, an Iranian court sentenced him to ten years in prison for 'communicating with a hostile government' and receiving 'illegal earnings.' The so-called 'illegal earnings' were the student loans he received while in Texas."

Re:Questions

[Swave An deBwoner]

Answer to 2) is in TFM#1:

Iran has been pursuing a kind of uranium enrichment called SILEX which uses carbon dioxide lasers, the same kind of lasers that Kokabee was using in his graduate studies.

Answer to 1) took a few more Google cycles:

Did you know that thousands of Iranian students study in the United States each year? In fact, for the past several years, the number of Iranian students studying in American colleges and universities has steadily grown such that Iran is now 22nd among the top 25 places of origin for international students.

And, in recent months, President Obama and Secretary Clinton have announced big steps forward in promoting exchange and opportunity with the Iranian people. As Secretary Clinton announced in May 2011, (http://www.youtube.com/), new visa regulations now allow Iranian students to receive two-year, multiple entry visas. This gives young Iranians the opportunity to return home for family events, to participate in internships, to travel outside the United Statesâ"and they wonâ(TM)t need to get a new visa every time.

You can find the quote here:
http://iran.usembassy.gov/education.html [usembassy.gov]