Darioush Rezaeinejad on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Majid Shahriari, a professor at
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. His wife was also wounded in the attack.
The attack was described by an Israeli intelligence interviewed by '' Der Spiegel'' as "the first public operation by new Mossad chief Tamir Pardo". Rezaeinejad's wife, Shohreh Pirani, was also wounded in the attack. "I got off quickly and followed the shooter. After running several meters, I realized that they were shooting at me. I fell down and heard the motorcycle go away," she later said.
Initial reports said the gunmen had killed 35-year-old "Darioush Rezaei," a
The U.S. government condemned the assassinations without implicating any party. However, some American politicians supported the killings. Former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich supported "taking out ranianscientists," and presidential candidate
Between 2010 and 2012, four Iranian nuclear scientists ( Masoud Alimohammadi, Majid Shahriari, Darioush Rezaeinejad and Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan) were assassinated, while another ( Fereydoon Abbasi) was wounded in an attempted murder. In November 2020, another scientist ( Mohsen Fakhrizadeh) was assassinated.
Two of the killings were carried out with magnetic bombs attached to the targets' cars; Darioush Rezaeinejad was shot dead, and Masoud Alimohammadi was killed in a motorcycle-bomb explosion. The Iranian government accused
, the jolt made neighbors think that an Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
of complicity in the killings. In 2011 and 2012, Iranian authorities arrested a number of Iranians alleged to have carried out the assassination campaign on behalf of Mossad (the Israeli intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be des ...
service). Western intelligence services and U.S. officials reportedly confirmed the Israeli connection.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement, but Israeli defense minister
The Ministry of Defense ( he, מִשְׂרַד הַבִּטָּחוֹן, Misrad HaBitahon, Ministry of Security, acronym: he, משהב"ט) of the government of Israel, is the governmental department responsible for defending the State of Isra ...
Moshe Ya'alon
Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon ( he, משה יעלון; born Moshe Smilansky on 24 June 1950) is an Israeli politician and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, who also served as Israel's Defense Minister under Benjamin Netanyahu from 2013 ...
said: "We will act in any way and are not willing to tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran. We prefer that this be done by means of sanctions, but in the end, Israel should be able to defend itself." 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.
According to NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
, two US senior officials confirmed that the People's Mujahedin of Iran
The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) ( fa, سازمان مجاهدين خلق ايران, sâzmân-e mojâhedīn-e khalq-e īrân), is an Iranian pol ...
(MEK) was "financed, trained, and armed by Israel" in killing Iranian nuclear scientists, although a Senior State Department Official later denied saying the MEK was involved in the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists.
According to the private American intelligence agency Stratfor, a fifth Iranian scientist was poisoned by Mossad in 2007.
Timeline
Events
Ardeshir Hosseinpour (15 January 2007)
Ardeshir Hosseinpour was initially reported to have died of "gas poisoning from a faulty heater. " Later reports indicated foul play. American, private, intelligence company Stratfor released a report on 2 February 2007 in which the claim was made, based on "sources very close to Israeli intelligence," that the victim was "in fact a long-time Mossad target." In 2014, Ardeshir's sister, Mahboobeh Hosseinpour, interviewed fromTurkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
in a conversation arranged by "The New Iran" opposition group, claimed that her brother was murdered by Iran's Revolutionary Guards rather than by Israel, for refusing to participate in "Iran's nuclear enrichment program whose use was for atomic eaponspurposes." According to Stratfor, Hosseinpour died of radiation poisoning.
Masoud Alimohammadi (12 January 2010)
At 7:58 am "a remote-controlled bomb attached to a motorcycle", parked near the car of Masoud Alimohammadi, exploded as he left his home in the Gheytariyeh neighbourhood of northernTehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
to go to a university. Windows of houses around the scientist's home were shattered by the force of the blast, and two more people were reportedly injured. According to the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...
had struck.
The assassination was reportedly carried out by Majid Jamali Fashi, who stated in a televised confession, confirmed as genuine by Western intelligence officials, that he'd acted on the instructions of Mossad and had been trained in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
. "I woke up at 4 and made a call, the plan had not changed. I parked the motorbike near the tree," Fashi said in his confession. Alimohammadi's wife said, "I heard the explosion just when I closed the door."
According to Maziyar Ebrahimi, an alleged perpetrator code-named Amiryal ( fa, "امیریل"), three teams were involved in the Alimohammadi assassination. "Some of them were on their cars watching the situation and covering the area and I was in my car in a further place from the incident place waiting to take them away after the explosion was done," Ebrahimi reportedly said under interrogation. Maziyar Ebrahimi was later exonerated and explained eight years later how he was proved to be innocent in an interview. "They told me that he was getting out of the parking lot and I pressed the remote button when I saw him, and moved toward the car waiting for me in the alley. Then we moved away," said Arash Kerhadkish (code-named Farshid, Behzad, and Aran) under interrogation, as reported by the Mehr News Agency.
Majid Shahriari (29 November 2010)
Majid Shahriari, a professor at Shahid Beheshti University
Shahid Behesti University ( fa, دانشگاه شهید بهشتی , Dāneshgāh-e Shahid Beheshti) (formerly known as the National University of Iran) is a public research university in Tehran, Iran. The university offers many programs at Bache ...
was killed by a bomb launched from a motorbike. The assassins had attached a carbomb, detonating it from a distance. Shariari's wife, Ghasemi, was a passenger in the car and was injured in the explosion.
"I attached the bomb to the right front door and moved away quickly," said Arash Kerhadkish, who was convicted of assassinating Shahriari. One member of the assassination team was knocked from his motorcycle by the force of the blast. "The motorcycle fell down and one of the riders was injured. We helped him," said Maryam Izadi, a convicted member of the team, under interrogation.
In an almost simultaneous bomb attack, Fereydoon Abbasi, a professor at Shahid Beheshti University
Shahid Behesti University ( fa, دانشگاه شهید بهشتی , Dāneshgāh-e Shahid Beheshti) (formerly known as the National University of Iran) is a public research university in Tehran, Iran. The university offers many programs at Bache ...
, where Shahriari also taught, and his wife were injured. "I had a meeting with Dr. Shahriari at the early morning. ... The bomb was attached to my car at 7:42. We were around the university square and I heard the sound of something colliding with my car and looked back and saw a motorbike. I concluded that that thing colliding with the car was bomb. I stopped at once and told my wife to get out." According to his wife, Abbasi sustained facial and hand injuries.
Darioush Rezaeinejad (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. His wife was also wounded in the attack.
The attack was described by an Israeli intelligence interviewed by '' Der Spiegel'' as "the first public operation by new Mossad chief Tamir Pardo". Rezaeinejad's wife, Shohreh Pirani, was also wounded in the attack. "I got off quickly and followed the shooter. After running several meters, I realized that they were shooting at me. I fell down and heard the motorcycle go away," she later said.
Initial reports said the gunmen had killed 35-year-old "Darioush Rezaei," a physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
professor whose area of expertise was neutron
The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , which has a neutral (not positive or negative) charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. Protons and neutrons constitute the nuclei of atoms. Since protons and neutrons beh ...
transport, and who was linked to Iran's nuclear program. The victim was subsequently identified as Rezaeinejad, a postgraduate
Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree.
The organization and ...
electrical engineering student at Tehran's K.N.Toosi University of Technology
Khajeh Nasir al-Din Toosi University of Technology (KNTU) ( fa, دانشگاه صنعتی خواجه نصيرالدين طوسی), also known as K. N. Toosi University of Technology, is a public research university in Tehran, Iran. It is named af ...
, who was expected to defend his thesis and working at a "national security research facility."
After the assassination, the speaker of Iran's parliament Ali Larijani
Ali Ardeshir Larijani ( fa, علی لاریجانی, ; born 3 June 1957) is an Iranian conservative politician, philosopher and former military officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who served as the Speaker of the Parliament of Iran ...
stated that the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
had killed Rezaeinejad. The U.S. government, through State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland
Victoria Jane Nuland (born July 1, 1961) is an American diplomat currently serving as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Nuland, a former member of the foreign service, served as the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eur ...
, rejected the accusation."
Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan (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 Alimohammadi's murder at 8:30 am in Shahid Golnabi Street,Seyed Khandan
Seyed Khandan is a locality of the city of Tehran in Iran. It is the junction of Shariati Street and Resalat Highway, near the Resalat district.
History
Years ago, there was a cheerful man named "Seyyed" short for Seyyed Hossein Niavarani w ...
, eastern Tehran.
According to Western intelligence sources, Ahmadi Roshan was "a victim of Israel's Mossad." "In this location, we reached the car and attached the bomb to the car and the bomb exploded near the white fence," said Arash Kerhadkish, under interrogation, as reported by the Mehr News Agency.
January 2015
Iranian authorities claimed they had thwarted another Mossad attempt to assassinate an Iranian nuclear scientist.Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi (27 November 2020)
The alleged head of Iran's nuclear weapons program, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was assassinated on November 27, 2020.Mohammad Javad Zarif
Mohammad Javad Zarif Khansari ( fa, محمدجواد ظریف خوانساری, Mohammad-Javād Zarīf Khānsāri ; ; born 8 January 1960) is an Iranian career diplomat and academic. He was the foreign minister of Iran from 2013 until 2021 in th ...
, Iran's foreign minister, suggested that Israel was behind Fakhrizadeh's assassination.
Responsibility
There has been speculation about the identity of their perpetrators. The Israeli Mossad intelligence service was seen as the most likely candidate. Other suspects included Iranian opposition groups such as MEK, intelligence operatives fromArab countries
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western As ...
opposed to the Iranian government, and the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. A U.S. Department official later affirmed that they never said that the MEK was involved in the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists.
Iran blamed Israel and the U.S. for the assassinations. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
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. Israel neither confirmed nor denied its role in the killings.
In early 2011 Majid 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
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
. Fashi was executed in May 2012. That month, Iranian authorities announced the arrest of another 14 Iranians eight men and six women described as an Israeli-trained terror cell responsible for five of the attacks on Iranian scientists. Iran's IRTV Channel 1 broadcast a half-hour documentary, ''Terror Club'', which included "the televised confessions of the 12 suspects allegedly involved in the killings of Ali-Mohammadi, Shahriari, Rezaeinejad, and Roshan, and the attempted killing of Abbasi." According to ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'', Western intelligence officials confirmed the cracking of two Mossad-backed espionage rings by Iranian intelligence. Officials in the Obama administration also reportedly confirmed Israeli involvement. According to Dan Raviv, Mossad officials were "pissed off and shocked" to see their intelligence assets paraded on Iranian television. After the arrests, Iran said it was confident it had arrested all those responsible for the attacks. ''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.
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. Israeli defence minister Moshe Ya'alon
Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon ( he, משה יעלון; born Moshe Smilansky on 24 June 1950) is an Israeli politician and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, who also served as Israel's Defense Minister under Benjamin Netanyahu from 2013 ...
said in an interview with '' Der Spiegel'', "Ultimately it is very clear, one way or another, Iran's military nuclear programme must be stopped ... We will act in any way and are not willing to tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran. We prefer that this be done by means of sanctions, but in the end, Israel should be able to defend itself." Ya'alon added that he was not responsible "for the life expectancy of Iranian scientists."
The assassination campaign against Iranian nuclear scientists reportedly ended in 2013 following pressure on Israel from the Obama administration to stop the attacks during negotiations with Iran to restrict its nuclear programme. Mossad officials also reportedly concluded that the attacks were "too dangerous" for valuable intelligence operatives in Iran. The organisation has since reportedly instructed its Iranian spy network to concentrate on finding evidence of Iranian breaches of its nuclear-restriction agreements.
Although Israel is considered responsible for the 2010–2012 assassination campaign against Iranian nuclear scientists, uncertainty surrounds the 2007 death of Iranian scientist Ardeshir Hosseinpour. Hosseinpour was reported by Iranian authorities to have died from gas poisoning caused by a faulty heater, but a six-day delay in their announcement raised suspicions outside Iran. According to Stratfor, Hosseinpour was assassinated by Mossad using radiation poisoning; Iranian officials denied this, calling their scientists "safe." In 2014 Hosseinpours sister, Mahboobeh, accused the Iranian Revolutionary Guard
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...
of killing him for his alleged refusal to work on Irans nuclear-enrichment program. Mahboobeh said that she obtained the information from Ardeshirs widow.
Reactions
The U.S. government condemned the assassinations without implicating any party. However, some American politicians supported the killings. Former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich supported "taking out ranianscientists," and presidential candidate Rick Santorum
Richard John Santorum ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, and political commentator. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007 and was the Senate's third ...
called the killings "a wonderful thing."
Israel Defense Forces spokesman General Yoav Mordechai said that he had "no idea who targeted ostafa Ahmadi Roshanbut I certainly dont shed a tear." Mehdi Hasan
Mehdi Raza Hasan (born July 1979) is a British-American political journalist, broadcaster and author of Indian descent.
Hasan has been the host of ''The Mehdi Hasan Show'' on Peacock since October 2020 and on MSNBC since February 2021.
In 2 ...
wrote in ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', "These 'men on motorbikes' have been described as 'assassins'. But assassination is just a more-polite word for murder ... How many more of our values will we shred in the name of security? Once we have allowed our governments to order the killing of ... fellow human beings, in secret, without oversight or accountability, what other powers will we dare deny them?"
Historian Michael Burleigh
Michael Burleigh (born 3 April 1955) is an English author and historian whose primary focus is on Nazi Germany and related subjects. He has also been active in bringing history to television.
Early life
Michael Burleigh was born on 3 April 1955. ...
compared the assassinations to the Allied bombing of Nazi V2 rocket
The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed ...
sites during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, 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
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
." According to Burleigh, scientists are not abstract researchers; there are "real world" consequences of their actions, and he "shall not shed any tears whenever one of these ranianscientists encounters one of the unforgiving men on motorbikes ... Except that if Israel ventures down this road, I cannot think of much of an argument to prevent Iran following them, and then anyone else who decides to follow."
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 ornational-security research efforts". Koring also wrote that the assassinations, regardless of their effectiveness, "left a real trail of grief". Koring cited Shorheh Pirani, the widow of Darioush Rezaeinejad, who was gunned down in front of his wife and five-year-old daughter. A year after the assassination, he wrote that Armita "still draws pictures of her father. In them, she and her mother always have their mouths open in terrified screams. 'Every day', Mrs. Pirani said, 'she makes that painting.
Supreme Leader of Iran
The Supreme Leader of Iran ( fa, رهبر ایران, rahbar-e irān) is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Supreme Leader directs the executive system and judicial system of the Islamic theocratic government and is the co ...
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. But there is no doubt that in the face of animosity, Iranian scientists, professors, and researchers will thwart the nemy'svicious plans... The martyrdom of these eminent scientists ... has honored the scientific community." 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."
See also
* Assassination and terrorism in Iran * Assassination of Ali Sayyad Shirazi *Targeted killings by Israel Defense Forces
Targeted killings by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), sometimes referred to as targeted prevention ( he, סיכול ממוקד ') or focused foiling, is a euphemistic military phrase for extrajudicial killings, murder or assassination outside o ...
* Assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh Mahabadi ( fa, محسن فخریزاده مهابادی ;195827 November 2020) was an Iranian nuclear physicist and scientist. He was regarded as the chief of Iran's nuclear program.
Born in Qom in 1958, Fakhrizadeh joined ...
* 2020 Iran explosions
The 2020 Iran explosions were a series of eleven explosions in Iran, including at an advanced centrifuge assembly facility, alleged missile sites, petrochemical centers, power plants, a nuclear enrichment facility and a medical clinic. First repo ...
* Gerald Bull
Gerald Vincent Bull (March 9, 1928 – March 22, 1990) was a Canadian engineer who developed long-range artillery. He moved from project to project in his quest to economically launch a satellite using a huge artillery piece, to which end he des ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Assassination of Iranian Nuclear Scientists Assassination campaigns Iran–Israel proxy conflict Iran–Israel relations Nuclear energy in Iran Nuclear program of Iran Politics of Iran Iranian terrorism victims Conflicts involving the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran People killed in Mossad operations