TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's official news agency, IRNA, is confirming that Iran has executed a nuclear scientist who gave the U.S. intelligence about the country's contested nuclear program.

The Sunday report quotes a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary, Gholamhosein Mohseni Ejehi, as confirming the execution of Shahram Amiri. He says Amiri "provided the enemy with vital information of the country."

U.S. officials in 2010 said they paid Amiri some $5 million to defect and provide "significant" information about Iran's atomic program. But Amiri later fled the U.S. without the money.

Iranian officials previously touted Amiri's claim he had been abducted by U.S. agents while on a pilgrimage to holy sites in Saudi Arabia. They welcomed him home in 2010 as a hero.

Earlier foreign media reports cited Amiri's mother saying her son had been executed by Iran.