Latest news with #Fakhrizadeh
NDTV
3 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Iran's 'Oppenheimer' Silenced: Inside Top Nuclear Scientist's Murder
New Delhi: When Israeli missiles rained on Iran's nuclear facilities this month, Fereidoun Abbasi, the former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, was among the high-profile casualties. He once laughed off fears of assassination and famously said he would "gladly build nuclear weapons if asked." He survived a targeted killing in 2010. This time, he did not. But for many in Iran and beyond, his death reopened an old scar. It pulled the world's attention back to the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran's top nuclear scientist. The Phantom Scientist For years, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was little more than a name in classified reports. Western intelligence believed he was the mastermind behind "Project Amad," Iran's covert effort to build a nuclear bomb in the early 2000s. In public, he was invisible. No speeches, no interviews and almost no photos. He was even referred to as Iran's Robert Oppenheimer. So shadowy was his presence that even when the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was signed, his name was too radioactive to mention. He was referred to as the "father of Iran's nuclear programme" by Western intelligence agencies and Israeli officials. In 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flashed Fakhrizadeh's name on national TV during a dramatic reveal of stolen Iranian nuclear files. "Remember that name," he said. For anyone paying attention, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh had a target on his back. The Assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh On November 27, 2020, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was travelling with his wife and bodyguards toward their villa in the town of Absard, east of Tehran. It was a familiar drive, routine, even. A convoy followed at a distance. Waiting by the roadside was a pickup truck, seemingly abandoned. Hidden within it, was a 7.62 mm FN MAG machine gun, rigged with facial recognition AI, satellite links, and explosives. No agents were on the ground. According to Iranian officials, the weapon was linked via satellite to its operators, believed to be Israeli agents outside the country. As the convoy slowed near a speed bump, a stray dog crossed the road. Just then, the machine gun fired a burst of bullets, hitting the front of Fakhrizadeh's car below the windshield. The car swerved and came to a stop. A second round of fire shattered the windshield, hitting Fakhrizadeh at least once in the shoulder. He got out and took cover behind the car door. Moments later, three more bullets hit his spine, and he collapsed on the road. His wife, beside him, was left untouched. Fifteen bullets were fired. The entire operation lasted less than a minute. Seconds later, the truck exploded, the only part of the plan that failed. It was supposed to destroy all traces of the robotic weapon, but much of the equipment landed back on the ground, badly damaged but largely intact. Iranian officials were stunned. The gun had been fired remotely, from outside the country. It was an assassination carried out by a robot sniper. Israel's Invisible Hand The entire operation, from surveillance to execution, had the signature of Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence agency. Though Israel never officially claimed responsibility, former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen later hinted at Israeli involvement, calling Fakhrizadeh a legitimate target. According to later reports, Mossad agents had tracked Mohsen Fakhrizadeh for months. The equipment was smuggled into Iran in pieces, assembled in-country, and tested in secret. It was perhaps the most advanced targeted killing in history. According to Brigadier General Ali Fadavi of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the weapon targeted Mohsen Fakhrizadeh with 'such precision' that it struck only him while leaving his wife and guards unharmed. The event also hardened Iran's position internationally. Talks with the US and European powers stalled. The regime accelerated uranium enrichment. And within Iran, hardliners gained momentum. The hopes of nuclear diplomacy also took a hit.
New York Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Israeli strikes that killed 9 Iranian scientists follows decade-long Mossad pattern of success targeting Tehran's top nuclear minds
The pre-emptive Israeli strike that reportedly killed nine of Iran's lead nuclear scientists Friday isn't the first time Tel Aviv has successfully targeted Tehran's top experts. Israel launched large-scale airstrikes against Iran on Friday, effectively assassinating some of the Islamic Republic's top military and scientific leaders, saying it had 'no choice' in light of Iran's rapidly advancing nuclear program and slow-moving talks between Tehran and the US. Since 2010, the Mossad – the cunning Israeli intelligence agency – has been linked to the precision killings of at least four other Iranian scientists. 5 The portraits of Iranian generals and nuclear scientists killed Friday hangs from a lamppost in capital Tehran. AFP via Getty Images The most notorious was the 2020 assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh — a physics professor regarded by Israel and Western officials as the father of Iran's nuclear weapons program. Mossad masterminded the killing from outside Iran, through an AI machine gun mounted on a nearby truck. The device zoomed in on Fakhrizadeh's face and fired 13 times as he was driving by, killing him in under a minute, while his wife — sitting mere inches away — was untouched. 5 Mohsen Fakhrizadeh founded Iran's nuclear program. VIA REUTERS The attack succeeded despite Fakhrizadeh traveling with a security detail of as large as 11 men. Before that, a series of targeted killings in the early 2000s followed similar patterns, with Mossad taking aim at the scientists on their way to work. In 2010, Masoud Ali Mohammadi, an Iranian nuclear physicist who lectured at Tehran university, was killed when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle was triggered by remote control outside his home in northern Tehran as he was leaving. 5 Israel launched hundreds of air strikes against Iran this week, targeting its nuclear capacities. TASNIM NEWS/AFP via Getty Images Later that year, another nuclear scientist, Professor Majid Shahriari was killed in the capital when men on motorcycles rode up alongside him and attached a bomb to his car. Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, the 32-year-old deputy head of Iran's uranium enrichment facility was killed in 2012 in a scenario that mimicked a Hollywood script — when two assassins on a motorbike attached a magnetic bomb to his Peugeot as he rode to work in Tehran. The strikes this week are believed to have killed at least nine top Iranian nuclear scientists, according to reports. 5 Fereidoun Abbasi, a former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, was killed Friday. NurPhoto via Getty Images Fereidoun Abbasi, a former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran who survived a previous assassination attempt in 2010, was among the scientists slain Friday. Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, head of Iran's Islamic Azad University in Tehran, was also taken out by the Israelis airstrike on Iran's military command center. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that his objective was to eliminate any Iranian threat to Israel. 5 Mehdi Tehranchi, head of Iran's Islamic Azad University in Tehran, was killed Friday. Tasnim News Agency The US and Iran were scheduled to have talks in Oman Sunday about Iran's nuclear program — but Iran's top diplomat said Saturday the talks were now 'meaningless' following the strikes.
