Assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists
Between 2010 and 2020, five Iranian nuclear scientists (Masoud Ali-Mohammadi, Majid Shahriari, Darioush Rezaeinejad, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, and Mohsen Fakhrizadeh) were killed in foreign-linked assassinations.
"[9] The assassination campaign was reportedly terminated in 2013 following diplomatic pressure from the United States, which was attempting to negotiate restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities.
On 15 January 2007, Ardeshir Hosseinpour, a professor at Shiraz University, was initially reported to have died of "suffocated by fumes from a faulty gas fire in sleep".
[22] On 12 January 2010, Masoud Ali-Mohammadi, a professor of physics at the University of Tehran, was killed by a remote-controlled bomb attached to a motorcycle parked near his car.
[25] State television broadcast a confession by Majid Jamali Fashi, who said he acted on the instructions of Mossad and had been trained in Tel Aviv: "I woke up at 4 and made a call, the plan had not changed.
[16] On 23 July 2011, Darioush Rezaeinejad was shot five times and killed by motorcycle-riding gunmen in front of his home while he was with his wife after they picked up their daughter from kindergarten.
[16] Initial reports said the gunmen had killed 35-year-old "Darioush Rezaei," a physics professor whose area of expertise was neutron transport, and who was linked to Iran's nuclear program.
The victim was subsequently identified as Rezaeinejad, a postgraduate electrical engineering student at Tehran's K.N.Toosi University of Technology, who was expected to defend his thesis[35][36] and working at a "national security research facility.
[40] On 11 January 2012, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan was assassinated with a "magnetized explosive" attached to the side of his car on his way to work, on the second anniversary of Masoud Ali-Mohammadi's murder at 8:30 am in Shahid Golnabi Street, Seyed Khandan, eastern Tehran.
[1] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton categorically denied any U.S. role in the killings, a denial called "plausible" by analysts given the reported lack of U.S. intelligence assets in Iran.
[49][50][51] Mahmoud Alavi, Iran's intelligence minister, said the person who planned the killing was "a member of the armed forces" indirectly suggesting that the perpetrator might have been from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
[52][53] In early 2011, Majid Jamali Fashi confessed to the killing of Masoud Alimohammadi on Iranian state television, saying that he had trained for the operation at a Mossad facility near Tel Aviv.
[citation needed] Time said that Iran attempted to retaliate against Israel for the assassinations by launching up to 20 hastily-organized attacks on Israeli diplomatic missions around the world in 2012, none of which were successful.
[4] Israel has never publicly confirmed or denied responsibility for the assassinations, and Israeli officials have expressed readiness to employ all necessary means in the nation's defence.
Hosseinpour was reported by Iranian authorities to have died from gas poisoning caused by a faulty heater,[18] but a six-day delay in their announcement raised suspicions outside Iran.
"[18] In 2014 Hosseinpour's sister, Mahboobeh, accused the Iranian Revolutionary Guard of killing him for his alleged refusal to work on Iran's nuclear-enrichment program.
Former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich supported "taking out [Iranian] scientists," and presidential candidate Rick Santorum called the killings "a wonderful thing.
"[61] Israel Defense Forces spokesman General Yoav Mordechai said that he had "no idea who targeted [Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan] but I certainly don't shed a tear.
"[2] Historian Michael Burleigh compared the assassinations to the Allied bombing of Nazi V2 rocket sites during World War II, noting that the bombers "were not unduly concerned whether scientists and engineers were killed too, nor foreign slave labourers provided the V2s ceased raining down on London."
"[45] Paul Koring wrote that the assassinations have reportedly had a "chilling impact" on the Iranian scientific community, making it "more difficult for the regime to recruit anyone [for] national-security research efforts".
'"[6] Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei condemned the attacks, saying "the heinous crimes of those who try to suppress the scientific growth of the Iranian nation have been exposed.
Earlier, the leader had stated that "with their achievements, young Iranian scientists have guaranteed the future and long term energy supply for the nation, and such advancements should not be lost at any cost.
