FILE - In this Thursday, July 19, 2012 file photo, a damaged bus is transported out of Burgas airport, Bulgaria, a day after a deadly suicide attack on a bus full of Israeli vacationers. Lebanon’s prime minister has expressed his readiness to cooperate with Bulgarian authorities over a bomb attack linked to Hezbollah that killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian driver, in a statement Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. Prime Minister Najib Mikati whose Cabinet is dominated by members of the Shiite Muslim group and its allies also says he condemns and rejects any attack that targets an Arab or foreign country.(AP Photo/ Impact Press Group, File)
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FILE - In this Thursday, July 19, 2012 file photo, a damaged bus is transported out of Burgas airport, Bulgaria, a day after a deadly suicide attack on a bus full of Israeli vacationers. Lebanon’s prime minister has expressed his readiness to cooperate with Bulgarian authorities over a bomb attack linked to Hezbollah that killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian driver, in a statement Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. Prime Minister Najib Mikati whose Cabinet is dominated by members of the Shiite Muslim group and its allies also says he condemns and rejects any attack that targets an Arab or foreign country.(AP Photo/ Impact Press Group, File)
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FILE - In this Friday, July 20, 2012 file photo, family and friends attend the funeral of Itzik Kolengi, 28, who was killed and his wife injured in a suicide bombing in Bulgaria Wednesday in Petah Tikva, Israel. Lebanon’s prime minister has expressed his readiness to cooperate with Bulgarian authorities over a bomb attack linked to Hezbollah that killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian driver, in a statement Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. Prime Minister Najib Mikati whose Cabinet is dominated by members of the Shiite Muslim group and its allies also says he condemns and rejects any attack that targets an Arab or foreign country.(AP Photo/Dan Balilty, File)
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Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, right, speaks during briefing, as Bulgarian President Plevneliev, left, talks to Bulgarian Prime Minister Borissov, after Consultative Council meeting on National Security at the Bulgarian President's office in Sofia, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. Bulgarian officials say a Canadian and an Australian are suspects in a deadly bomb attack they say is linked to Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah. Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsevtnov says two of the suspects in the attack that killed five Israeli tourists last July had entered the country with an Australian and a Canadian passport. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
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Bulgarian President Rossen Plevneliev speaks during briefing after Consultative Council meeting on National Security at the Bulgarian President's office in Sofia, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. Bulgarian officials say a Canadian and an Australian are suspects in a deadly bomb attack they say is linked to Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah. Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsevtnov says two of the suspects in the attack that killed five Israeli tourists last July had entered the country with an Australian and a Canadian passport. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
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FILE - In this November 12, 2010 file photo, Hezbollah fighters hold their party flags, as they parade during the opening of new cemetery for colleagues who died in fighting against Israel, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. Lebanon’s prime minister has expressed his readiness to cooperate with Bulgarian authorities over a bomb attack linked to Hezbollah that killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian driver, in a statement Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. Prime Minister Najib Mikati whose Cabinet is dominated by members of the Shiite Muslim group and its allies also says he condemns and rejects any attack that targets an Arab or foreign country.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
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In this picture taken on May 22, 2010, a Hezbollah fighter stands behind an empty rocket launcher while explaining to the group various tactics and weapons used against Israeli soldiers on the battlefield, during a trip to Hezbollah strongholds, in Sojod village, southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s prime minister has expressed his readiness to cooperate with Bulgarian authorities over a bomb attack linked to Hezbollah that killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian driver, in a statement Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. Prime Minister Najib Mikati whose Cabinet is dominated by members of the Shiite Muslim group and its allies also says he condemns and rejects any attack that targets an Arab or foreign country.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, left, and Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, right, enter the Consultative Council meeting on National Security at the Bulgarian President's office in Sofia, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. Investigators are releasing a summary of their findings to the Bulgarian government Tuesday which is widely expected to link the militant group Hezbollah to the bus bomb attack on July 18, 2012, that killed five Israeli tourists in the coastal city of Burgas, Bulgaria. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
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Bulgarian officials attend the Consultative Council meeting on National Security at the Bulgarian President's office in Sofia, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. Investigators are releasing a summary of their findings to the Bulgarian government Tuesday, which is widely expected to link the militant group Hezbollah to the bus bomb attack on July 18, 2012, that killed five Israeli tourists in the coastal city of Burgas, Bulgaria. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
Iran releases Slovak arrested for spying
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — A
Slovak national arrested in Iran and accused of spying for the United States has been released and returned home.
Iranian authorities claimed in January that 26-year-old Matej Valuch was involved in Central Intelligence Agency activities in Iran.
Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak said Friday that Valuch was released after "difficult and complicated" bilateral negotiations. Lajcak gave no details.
Valuch, who was standing next to the minister at a news conference, denied he worked for the U.S. intelligence, saying "I am not a spy."
He declined to take questions. Lajcak said Valuch would not talk about his Iranian experience in the future.
In a documentary broadcast in Iran, Valuch said he was recruited by a CIA agent and ran a job recruitment agency in Tehran as a front.
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ap, u.s. intelligence, central intelligence agency, federal bureau of investigation, united states, culture_politics, slovakia, news conference, iran, friday, recruitment, home, details, tehran, intelligence, activities, spy, iran releases slovak, 26-year-old matej valuch, foreign minister miroslav, job recruitment agency, iranian authorities, bilateral negotiations, iranian experience, cia agent, documentary broadcast, lajcak, spying, bratislava, defense intelligence agency
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