Latest news with #Abbasi
Indian Express
a day ago
- Indian Express
Iranian poet Parnia Abbasi, 23, among civilians killed in Israeli missile strike
Parnia Abbasi, a 23-year-old poet and a graduate in English, was killed alongside her parents and younger brother when an Israeli missile struck their apartment building in Tehran on Friday, according to The New York Times and The Washington Post. The Abbasi family had moved just six months ago into a new three-bedroom apartment in the Orkideh Complex on Sattarkhan Street — a long-awaited dream that ended in rubble. Parnia Abbasi was set to turn 24 next week. According to relatives, the missile hit the centre of the building, causing the structure to collapse. 'They had bought this house under great financial pressure so that the children could have their own rooms,' said a relative, Hassan. 'The love between this family was the envy of everyone. They were always together.' Abbasi had graduated from Qazvin University with a degree in English and was working at the National Bank of Iran, where her mother had also spent her career before retiring. A writer and translator, Abbasi had recently passed Iran's competitive graduate entrance exam in management but chose to delay her studies to continue working. 'I looked at all my life events as stories I could write,' The New York Times quoted her saying during a poetry panel for young writers. Her friend Maryam, who was supposed to meet her that morning, said through tears, 'She was everything — a poet, a teacher, a daughter.' One of Abbasi's last poems, recalled by Maryam and reported by Tehran Times, reads like: 'I burn, I fade, I become a silent star, That turns into smoke In your sky…' The missile strike that destroyed the Orkideh Complex is part of Israel's ongoing offensive targeting Iran's nuclear and military infrastructure. While Israel insists it does not target civilians, The New York Times reported that hundreds of non-combatants have died in the violence. Abbasi's 14-year-old brother, Parham, a student, was among the dead. Their bodies were pulled from the rubble soon after the strike, while their parents' remains were recovered hours later. The building's Block 4, which had 10 apartments, saw complete destruction from floors three to five. 'It seems everyone in those units is gone,' Maryam said. Parnia Abbasi's story is one among many. The New York Times also reported that an 8-year-old girl, a national equestrian champion, and a graphic designer who worked with National Geographic are among those killed in recent Israeli strikes. As the war enters its second week, the Iranian Ministry of Health has yet to release updated casualty figures. According to AP, Israel's air campaign has targeted several nuclear and military sites, killing senior generals and nuclear scientists. A Washington-based Iranian human rights group reported that at least 639 people have been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians, and over 1,300 injured. In retaliation, Iran has launched around 400 missiles and hundreds of drones, killing at least 24 people in Israel and wounding hundreds. (With inputs from The New York Times, The Washington post, Tehran Times, AP)
Jordan News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Jordan News
Iran Claims It Shot Down Israeli F-35 Fighter Jet - Jordan News
Iran Claims It Shot Down Israeli F-35 Fighter Jet On Wednesday, Iranian authorities announced that their military successfully shot down an Israeli F-35 fighter jet south of the capital, Tehran. The report was confirmed by Hossein Abbasi, the governor of Varamin County, in a statement to IRNA, Iran's official news agency. Abbasi stated that the fighter jet crashed and was destroyed in the Varamin region. He added that security units have launched an investigation, but no details were given regarding the fate of the aircraft's pilot. Three Israeli Warplanes Downed Since June 13 According to Iranian sources, this marks the third Israeli warplane shot down since June 13, the date when Israel launched a wide-scale attack on Iranian territory. Backed by the United States, Israel began a series of coordinated strikes last Friday, targeting: Nuclear facilities, Missile bases, And high-ranking Iranian military and nuclear scientists. These attacks have reportedly resulted in 224 deaths and 1,277 injuries, according to Iranian figures. In retaliation, Iran has been launching ballistic missiles and drones, which by Tuesday had killed at least 24 people in Israel and injured hundreds, also causing significant material damage, according to the Israeli Government Press Office. This latest development — involving one of the world's most advanced stealth jets — is likely to further escalate tensions and fuel speculation about the capabilities of Iranian air defenses. The F-35, developed by Lockheed Martin, is known for its stealth, advanced radar systems, and multi-role combat abilities, and any verified loss of such an aircraft would be considered a major event militarily and politically. No immediate confirmation or comment has been issued by Israeli defense forces regarding the incident. اضافة اعلان
Time of India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Iran's Nuclear Scientist Makes Big Reveal In Last Interview Before Israeli Strike Killed Him
Fereidoun Abbasi, a key architect of Iran's nuclear program and former head of the Atomic Energy Organisation, was killed in Israel's latest strikes targeting Iranian nuclear sites. Abbasi had survived a 2010 assassination attempt and was sanctioned by the UN for suspected links to nuclear weapons research. Known for his hardline views, he once boasted that he wasn't worried about assassination and said he would build a bomb if ordered. In a recent interview, he downplayed the risk of being targeted and asserted that Iran's nuclear work would continue through future generations. Read More
NDTV
6 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Iran's Top Nuclear Scientist Killed In Israeli Strikes Boasted He Wasn't Worried About Assassination
Fereidoun Abbasi, a former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, was among several military leaders and scientists killed in the unprecedented Israeli strikes. According to the New York Post, Abbasi had once boasted that he wasn't concerned about being assassinated and said he would gladly build nuclear weapons if asked. Abbasi, a key figure in Iran's nuclear development, survived a 2010 assassination attempt and had long been sanctioned by the United Nations for alleged involvement in covert nuclear weapons research. He had also defended Iran's nuclear efforts as peaceful and essential to national sovereignty. On Thursday, he was killed overnight as Israel struck the nation's terrifying nuclear program sites, Iranian officials confirmed. Following his demise, Abbasi's interview with an Iranian outlet last month has emerged, in which he had casually dismissed concerns about the possibility of being targeted. "What are we supposed to do about it?" he asked dismissively, saying his work on the nuclear program would live on with younger generations. According to the Post, he also stated that he would happily help build weapons if asked. "So far, we have not received orders to build (a nuclear bomb). If they tell me to build it, I will do it," Abbasi, a hardliner who also served as a member of parliament from 2020 to 2024, told Iran outlet SNN, per the outlet. "It is a mistake to set a time frame, whether six months, a month, a year, or a day," he said about the timeline for building a nuclear weapon. "Once the decision is made, you will need to make some small changes. If you work with uranium, you will need 90% enriched uranium. This level of enrichment can be achieved by laser, by electromagnetism, or by centrifuges," he continued. If Iran's nuclear infrastructure were destroyed, Abbasi said, "nothing would happen." "Our capabilities are spread all over the country," he said, adding, "If they target the production sites, it will be inconsequential to our timetable." Notably, Israel launched unprecedented strikes against Iran on Friday, targeting the country's nuclear programme and several military leaders and nuclear scientists. Israel's military said that the strikes had caused significant damage. Key Iranian commanders were killed, including the chief of staff of the armed forces and the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Nuclear scientists Ali Shamkhani, Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, and four others were also killed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli attack was launched to protect the country from Iran's threat. The operation was meant to stop serious threats from Iran, but it would take several days to do this, reported The Guardian. In retaliation, Iran launched 100 drones towards Israel, with the Israeli Military saying its air defences were intercepting them outside Israeli territory. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has warned Israel it faced a "bitter and painful" fate over the attacks.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel kills nuclear scientists, strikes sites in Iran: Who did it target?
Two key Iranian nuclear scientists are among six scientists killed in Israeli strikes on sites in Iran on Friday. More than 200 Israeli Air Force fighter jets hit more than 100 nuclear, military and infrastructure targets across Iran, including its main nuclear facility in Natanz. The Israeli army said it had damaged the Natanz uranium enrichment site's underground structures, including a multistorey enrichment hall with centrifuges, electrical rooms and additional supporting infrastructure. It added that 'vital infrastructure at the site that allows for its continuous functioning and the continued advancement of the Iranian regime's project to obtain nuclear weapons was attacked'. This came just a day after United States President Donald Trump said his administration was 'fairly close to a pretty good agreement' with Iran and that military action 'could blow it' and lead to a 'massive conflict'. However, on Thursday, Washington also hinted at the possibility of an imminent escalation when it announced it was partially evacuating its embassy in Iraq and had authorised 'the voluntary departure' of dependants of US personnel from other locations across the Middle East. On Thursday, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), declared that Iran had not complied with its nonproliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years. Tehran maintains that its nuclear programme focuses on peaceful purposes and is not developing weapons. The spokesperson for Iran's armed forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, warned that Israel would pay a 'heavy price' for its attacks, which also killed three senior military figures, including Mohammad Bagheri, the country's highest-ranking total, six Iranian scientists have been killed in the Israeli strikes. Iran's Tasnim news agency described two of the victims, Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoun Abbasi, as 'major nuclear scientists'. Tehranchi, a theoretical physicist, was the president of the Islamic Azad University of Iran. He was added to the US Department's Entity List of actors 'acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests' in March 2020. The building housing the residence of Tehranchi and several other Iranian scientists was severely damaged in Friday morning's attacks. Abbasi was a former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and a former member of the Iranian parliament. He held a PhD in nuclear physics and had conducted nuclear research at the defence ministry. In 2010, Abbasi survived twin blasts in Tehran that killed fellow nuclear scientist Majid Shahriari. Iran blamed Israel for the incident, although Israel neither confirmed nor denied the assassination. The news agency identified the other slain scientists as: Abdolhamid Minouchehr, holder of a PhD in nuclear engineering, who served as dean of the nuclear engineering faculty at Shahid Beheshti University and conducted extensive research on improving the efficiency and safety of nuclear plants Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari, professor of nuclear engineering at Shahid Beheshti University Amir Hossein Faghihi, who belonged to the engineering faculty at Shahid Beheshti University and previously served as vice president of the AEOI and head of the Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute Motallebzadeh, a nuclear scientist who was targeted and killed along with his wife Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the so-called 'Operation Rising Lion' had struck Iran's main uranium enrichment facility in Natanz. The IAEA said there was no increase in radiation levels at the site following the strike. No casualties have been reported. Natanz, a heavily fortified facility located outside the Shia holy city of Qom, houses an underground fuel enrichment plant and an above-ground pilot fuel enrichment plant. The IAEA said it had not received reports of strikes or damage at other key Iranian nuclear sites, including a large nuclear technology centre on the outskirts of Isfahan, a nuclear power plant in Bushehr and a fuel enrichment plant in Fordow. More sites could be targeted in the coming days, however. Netanyahu said the military operation aimed to 'roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival' and would 'continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.' The killing of the six Iranian scientists is only the latest in a long line of assassinations blamed on Israel. In 2020, top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was shot dead by a remote-controlled machine gun in the town of Absard, east of Tehran. Iranian authorities blamed the assassination on Israel, which again neither confirmed nor denied its involvement. Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, an academic who worked at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, was killed in 2012 by a magnetic bomb stuck to his car as he was driving in Tehran. The explosion occurred on the second anniversary of the killing of Masoud Ali Mohammadi, another nuclear scientist killed by a remote-control bomb. In November 2010, Majid Shahriari, a top nuclear scientist and a member of the nuclear engineering department of Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, was killed in one of two explosions in Tehran. The then-president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, accused 'Western governments' and Israel of being behind the assassination. The second blast caught Abbasi, the scientist killed in Israel's attacks on Friday, and his wife. Both were injured but survived the While Israel has never used missiles in direct attacks on Iran's nuclear military sites before, it has targeted Iran's primary nuclear facility at Natanz by other means. In April 2021, Iran accused Israel of causing an explosion and power cut at the nuclear site that damaged centrifuges in its underground fuel enrichment plant. Ali Akbar Salehi, who headed the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said the attack was an act of 'nuclear terrorism' but did not specify who was responsible. The same site was also damaged by an explosion in August 2020. Iran accused Israel of 'sabotage' on that occasion, but it did not specify what had caused the blast. Israel has stepped up its cultivation of human intelligence sources inside Iran, and has improved its technological capabilities for spying with the help of European and US satellites. Muhanad Seloom, an assistant professor in critical security studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera that the Israeli attack was a demonstration of its progress in this sector. 'The Israeli side have already sent the message clearly to Tehran that we know where your leaders are, we know who they are, we have accurate intelligence, and we have the technological means to reach inside Iran,' he said. 'The significance is not about the type of weapons used, but the intelligence success that Israel has been able to achieve inside Iran,' he said. Al Jazeera correspondent Dorsa Jabbari said Iran's civilian population had been caught off guard by the latest escalation. 'They have not seen anything like this since the Iran-Iraq war ended in 1988,' she said. 'These scenes are very new to the new generation in Iran. It's something they've never seen before and something they thought they'd never see.' Jabbari added that the scope and scale of Friday's attacks by Israel were much greater than the tit-for-tat missile attacks the two countries engaged in last year, when Israel targeted non-nuclear sites such as military facilities and infrastructure. 'This was completely by surprise. And the scale of this attack is much larger and broader,' she said. 'It's not a one-off. This is not a strategic in-and-out kind of attack, they are continuing as we speak, and we have no idea when they will end.'
