Who is killing iranian nuclear scientists

With a PhD in nuclear physics from Shahid Beheshti University, Abbadi has taught for years at the same institution as a professor of nuclear physics.

The U. He was seriously wounded and narrowly survived the assassination attempt by jumping out of the vehicle right before the bomb detonated. Iranian authorities, including then-nuclear top negotiator Saeid Jalili, accused Israel and Western countries of the failed attempt. Rezaei Nejad was a PhD candidate in electrical engineering at Tehran's Khajeh Nasir University of Technology and an expert on high-voltage switches with focus on triggering nuclear warheads.

On July 23, , he was shot five times and killed near his house on Bani Hashem street in Tehran by a team of motorcycle-riding gunmen after he had picked up his daughter from kindergarten. Both his wife and daughter were wounded in the attack. Many high-ranking Iranian officials, including the parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani, accused the U. Israeli officials did not react to the accusations. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland denied any U. In his own speech at the funeral, Defence Minister General Amir Hatami reiterated Iran's determination to avenge Fakhrizadeh's killing.

As head of Iran's Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, known by its Persian acronym SPND, Fakhrizadeh had carried out "considerable work" in the area of "nuclear defence", the general said. The government would double the SPND's budget in order to continue the path of the "martyr doctor" with "more speed and more power", he added. Iranian media are focusing on projecting two main messages - the threat of revenge for the scientist's killing, and a warning that Iran should not "fall into the trap" of what they say are Israel's attempts to escalate tensions over the Iranian nuclear programme.

Israeli media are highlighting the timing of the attack, with analysts interpreting this as a signal to US President-elect Joe Biden that Israel "won't go quietly" if he seeks to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal. There is also much speculation about possible Iranian retaliation. Saudi media are reporting the assassination prominently and with interest, given the kingdom's opposition to its regional rival's nuclear programme.

Israeli and Western security sources say Fakhrizadeh was instrumental in Iran's nuclear programme. The physics professor is said to have led "Project Amad", a covert programme that Iran allegedly established in to carry out research on a potential nuclear bomb. The project was shut down in , according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, though Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said in that documents obtained by his country showed Fakhrizadeh led a programme that was secretly continuing Project Amad's work.

In a presentation, Mr Netanyahu urged people to "remember that name". Iran has previously accused Israel of assassinating four other Iranian nuclear scientists between and Analysts have speculated that the latest assassination was not meant to cripple the Iranian nuclear programme but rather to put an end to the prospect of the US rejoining the Iran nuclear deal when President-elect Joe Biden takes office next year.

President Donald Trump abandoned the deal in , saying it was "defective at its core", and reinstated US sanctions in an attempt to force Iran's leaders to negotiate a replacement. Iran has refused to do so and retaliated by breaching a number of key commitments, such as increasing its stockpile of enriched uranium.

In February , the country said it downed an Iranian stealth drone entering Israeli-controlled airspace, which Israel later said was armed with explosives. Later that year, Israel accused Iran of firing a barrage of rockets from Syrian territory at its forces in the occupied Golan Heights. It was the first time Iran had fired rockets in a direct strike on Israeli forces, dramatically ratcheting up the conflict.

Iranian scientist's death only the latest in long line of attacks blamed on Israel. Analysis: The Middle East is on edge as the Trump administration enters its final weeks. There has been no change in our position. Fakhrizadeh, 59, had been described by Western and Israeli intelligence services for years as the leader of a covert atomic bomb programme halted in , which Israel and the United States accuse Tehran of trying to restore.

Published On 11 Feb