He's been a US citizen since 1987, a Defense Department employee for 20 years and an electronics engineer at Robins Air Force Base since 1991.

Yet Reza Rezaee likely will lose his job in a few days. Not because of incompetence or subpar performance. Even the Defense Department agrees that he's been an above average employee. There are no credible charges of misconduct or mixed loyalties on his record.

Rezaee's only explanation of his pending termination is paranoia - what he suggests are unwarranted suspicions surrounding trips to his native Iran to care for his 90-year-old, nearly blind mother and to maintain some contact with other members of his family.

The preliminaries have been decided. The Air Force pulled his secret security clearance in 2005 and suspended him without pay in January.

The Untied States is at loggerheads with Iran over the independent and home-grown nature of Tehran's nuclear technology, which gives the Islamic Republic the potential to turn into a world power and a role model for other third-world countries. Washington has laid much pressure on Iran to make it give up the most sensitive and advanced part of the technology, which is uranium enrichment, a process used for producing nuclear fuel for power plants.

Still, the slightly built University of Central Florida graduate struggles to reconcile what has happened over the last three years. He said his ordeal has been devastating financially, professionally, socially and emotionally.

"Officials hide behind policy," Rezaee said during an interview last week. "Then they go home and sleep at night. They don't look at the human side. I haven't given them any reason to doubt me. I've had a security clearance since 1991 and now they suddenly have issues."

Defense Department and Air Force documents obtained by The Telegraph indicate Rezaee's trips to Iran using his Iranian passport - seven visits since 1986 - and trips by his wife, Fariba, have created what the military calls an indication of "foreign influence."

An April decision on Rezaee's appeal to the Defense Department's Office of Hearings and Appeals in Arlington, Va., upheld - at least in part - a previous Air Force ruling in the case.

"Protection of the national security is the paramount consideration," administrative judge Carol Ricciardello specified in a 12-page document.

"Therefore, any doubt concerning personnel being considered for access to classified information is resolved in favor of national security."

The Air Force also raised "foreign preference" and "personal conduct" allegations against Rezaee, but Ricciardello found no compelling evidence to substantiate those charges.

Rezaee's appeal to the Defense Department agency contained 20 letters of recommendation from Robins supervisors and co-workers, along with support from friends and neighbors in the Middle Georgia community.

Ricciardello conceded that the documentation described the Robins worker as "loyal, consistently professional" with a "high level of competence" and a "high level of integrity."

The judge also noted that Rezaee's annual appraisals "reflected that he consistently met expected standards and often exceeded the standards."

"None of the witnesses (at Rezaee's hearing) had any reservations about (his) holding a security clearance," said Ricciardello. Yet the defense official sustained the "foreign influence" ruling, concluding that Rezaee's overall record left her "with questions about his eligibility and suitability for a security clearance."

The veteran employee worked in a classified software facility at Robins, providing support for the F-15 fighter. The position calls for a security clearance, although Rezaee said he had not done classified work in years.

All his trips to Iran were coordinated with the Office of Special Investigations at Robins, he emphasized.

"OSI interviewed me both before and after the fact," he said. "At no time did anyone say that going to Iran might jeopardize my security clearance."

Dianne Suchan, director of the 402nd Software Maintenance Group at Robins, will make the final decision on his pending termination. Rezaee presented his appeal to her several days ago, but the 50-year-old expects the worst, even though electronics engineers are in critically short supply at the base.

"I provided her a number of documents and asked to retain my job for a year so I can re-apply for a clearance," he reported. "She said she would study the paperwork and make a decision. But I doubt she will grant my request."

Robins spokesman John Birdsong would not comment on the case except to confirm that a decision was pending.

Rezaee asked US Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga., and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., for help. Neither was successful.

Marshall spokesman Doug Moore said the District 8 congressman contacted both Robins and the Pentagon.

"We've written numerous letters, but we have not been able to change the Defense Department's position," Moore confirmed. "We've done all we can do."

Rezaee, father of two teenage daughters and a local youth soccer coach for 12 years, said the Air Force decision has left him with few financial options. His wife has taken a $9-an-hour job at Lowe's. He's drawing unemployment compensation.

He has sent resumes to potential employers, but the government's action hangs like a dark cloud over any job interview.

"They don't understand why I lost my job after 20 years," Rezaee lamented. "It doesn't make sense to them. I was making $70,000 to $80,000 a year and now I'm applying for a job making $30,000."

But it's the sense of betrayal - not the financial loss - that cuts most deeply, he says. An Iranian friend - also a Robins employee - has backed away. "He doesn't come to our house any more even though he knows I haven't done anything wrong," said Rezaee.

The engineer believes the people he has worked with for 17 years care what happens to him, but they care from a distance.

Rezaee said he has endured the second glances and closer scrutiny for years. "For example, clearing customs at the airport in Atlanta often takes four or five hours," he said. "I don't have a problem with that. They don't know me. They're just following their rules."

But the situation at Robins is different. "(The leadership) here knows me," Rezaee explained. "It's tough. They're afraid to back me up even though they know I haven't done anything wrong."

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why various govt and non-govt officials and ordinary iranians are not allowed us visa??

isn't it discrimination?

what about this:

OAKLAND, California, 26 Aug (IPS) - When Michelle May, an avid traveler, returned to New York's John F. Kennedy airport after a seven-week trip to Iran this summer, she says she was closely questioned and her luggage searched after officials read on her customs card that she had been to the Islamic Republic.

When May asked why she was being subjected to such scrutiny, a customs agent said, 'They were the ones who attacked us.'

'This response embarrassed me as an American -- to think that there are people in my country who still today are so confused by the 9/11 terrorist attacks and who perpetrated them,' May told IPS correspondent Omid Memarian in an interview.

The number of U.S. citizens who visit Iran is less than a 1,000 a year. During her 10-week trip in June and July, May posted pictures of herself with ordinary Iranian people on Facebook, a popular social networking website, and continuously updated her blog, drawing considerable comments and attention.

Although U.S. citizens are not allowed to travel in Iran without an official government-approved tour guide with them at all times, May used her Irish passport and was able to travel independently.

May, 35, has traveled to 48 countries over the past decade. Her latest journey included Iran's northern Caspian Sea and border region with Turkmenistan, to Kurdistan along the border of Iraq, and finally to the dangerous region of Baluchistan.

Excerpts from the interview follow.

IPS: How were you welcomed in Tehran's International Airport, as an American, and at JFK airport, as somebody who was coming back from a member of the 'axis of evil' club?

MM: In Tehran, I quickly passed through immigration and customs, with fellow passengers helping me carry my luggage, and kind smiles from chador-clad female Iran customs agents.

In contrast, back home at JFK I was treated with great suspicion. One customs agent even asked me if the U.S. government had given me 'permission' to go to Iran. In fact, I do not need my government's 'permission' to go to Iran. Given the fact I have passed through customs over 100 times in my life and never been searched at all until now leads me to suspect that I was treated this way simply because I was coming from Iran.

IPS: What was your impression about Iranians' opinion of the United States and Americans?

MM: Time and time again I was told by Iranians of varying walks of life that they 'love' Americans and they badly want a 'relationship' with Americans. I never felt unwelcome and I never felt unsafe. In fact, most people I spent time with seemed to be 'proud' of me -- for lack of a better word. Many expressed that they wished there were more American tourists.

IPS: What were their opinions of U.S.-Iran relations?

MM: Many expressed that regardless whether they agree with the U.S. government or not, their feelings about my government's acts have no bearing on how they view the individual people of America. Many said they were sad that they could not have more relations with the everyday people of America due to serious visa constraints on both sides prohibiting much tourism.

IPS: As a woman you have to wear a hijab headscarf and mantou, which covers your body. What was your feeling about it and also the women in different parts of Iran?

MM: At the end of two months, I had gotten used to it and see its benefits -- just as many women of Muslim countries do. It is a great deterrent for unwanted male attention, it shelters you from the intense sun, and lastly, it takes the guesswork out of what to wear each day.

In different parts of the country, the hijab changes. In some parts like Kurdistan, and Baluchistan the hijab is much more colourful and casual. While in urban centres black seems to dominate though many times it comes in the form of a skin-tight mantou, in addition to extremely heavy makeup, and bleach blond hair popping out from under the headscarf. The Iranian hijab is open to personal interpretation, unlike other countries in the region.

IPS: You traveled from Iran's Baluchistan, which has been a target by rebels in recent years, groups like Jondollah, who have carried out a series of kidnappings. Weren't you afraid of being kidnapped?

MM: Everyone told me I should be afraid, but I was also told that if I went that I would have a police escort with me anytime I left my guest house, as well as a police motorcade if I decide to travel from one city to the next. I went and found this to in fact to be true. The police made sure that nothing happened to me.

IPS: What do people think of these groups?

MM: The people I spoke with are scared of them and do not travel to that region because of these groups. Those who believe that the U.S. is funding these groups are angry that an outside force is disrupting the peace in their country.

IPS: Do they follow the U.S. elections?

MM: Yes. Many expressed they felt [Democrat Barack] Obama was a man of peace and therefore the man for the job, while others felt that [Republican John] McCain was their preference since he has a 'heavy hand'. I was surprised to meet some people who agree with the interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan; however, the majority of people I met are very sad about what is happening to their neighbours. They know that the outcome of November's elections may affect them.

IPS: What's people general opinion about their government, and particularly President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?

MM: Most people I met said they do not feel that Ahmadinejad represents them. Most said that since he came to power their country has gone backwards and that they are suffering, especially economically.

IPS: What kind of people did you meet, and how religious did you find ordinary people in different cities to be?

MM: I met a variety of people, but most I met do not consider themselves to be 'very religious.' Still, they love Islam and the Koran, yet they do not go to mosque every day; among the younger set, I did not meet many who even pray every day. The 'very religious people' I did meet were very kind and open to me; they seemed very tolerant.

IPS: What are major differences you saw in Iran versus neighbouring countries?

MM: From what both Sunni and Shiite people told me, it seems Shiite people are more modern in dress, and more flexible in their interpretation of their religion than their Sunni neighbors. Women also are more present in Shiite society, and seem to be a bigger part of the workforce than the neighbouring countries I have been to. At night-time, society is very alive -- parks are packed with families enjoying meals and music; women are out late, laughing, enjoying themselves, and even smoking hookah.

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isn't it discrimination?

the problem with you is:

business...business...business.

armenian christians were massacred in thousands but, you kept quick because of business.

when taliban bombed and destroyed statue, you kept quit because of pipeline business. you then supported talibans.

there are numerous examples like that.

God has given you power and authority, for what???

for expansion of business???

or,

to help helpless????

you have no words for saudi arabia because saudi arabia gives you business.

isn't it true???

you have no faith, no religion, no principle, except business.

business is your jesus, business is your God, business is your principle, business is your hope.

business...business...business.

2+2+2+2+2

keep counting your wealth and business transactions, and let the helpless die.

what else, any one can expect from you.