AFP - Parliament speaker Ali Larijani has said that the United States behaved like a "terrorist" by abducting its nuclear scientist who went missing in Saudi Arabia, state television reported on Wednesday.

Labelling the alleged kidnapping of Shahram Amiri "terrorist behaviour" by the US, Larijani said both Washington and Riyadh must be held responsible for his disappearance, the report added.

"Americans have done such things even in the past, but have never taken responsibility for their terrorist behaviour," Larijani said.

"It is clear that this move was done by Americans and organised by Saudi conspirators and such behaviour harms their reputation."

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki charged that Amiri had been "abducted" by the United States after he went missing in Saudi Arabia where he had gone for a minor Muslim pilgrimage in June.

The foreign ministry also acknowledged for the first time that Amiri was a nuclear scientist.