Tuesday, August 16, 2011 12:59:36 AM
Another Iranian nuclear scientist murdered in Tehran
According to Iranian media reports, assailants on a motorcycle killed a 35-year-old Iranian nuclear physicist outside his home and wounded his wife.
By Yossi Melman Tags: Iran nuclear Iran
Published 02:39 24.07.11
Latest update 02:39 24.07.11
An Iranian physicist was gunned down yesterday near his home in south Tehran, according to Iranian media reports.
According to the reports, based on police sources, Darioush Rezaei, 35, was shot dead by two gunmen firing from motorcycles. Rezaei's wife was injured in the attack and rushed to hospital. This is the fourth attack on an Iranian nuclear scientist in the past year. In the previous cases, Iranian media outlets and spokesmen accused the Mossad, the CIA and MI6 of being behind the strikes.
Darioush Rezaei .. Photo by: Haaretz Archive
Rezaei, who was a university lecturer in the city of Ardabil, did his doctorate in neutron transport - which lies at the heart of nuclear chain reactions in reactors and bombs - at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.
He was a member of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the country's official atomic energy commission. Ostensibly this agency is in charge of its civilian nuclear program, but according to various reports it is also involved, together with secret groups in the Revolutionary Guards, in Iran's nuclear weapons' production.
As of last night, official Iranian spokesmen had not issued a response to the killing.
In November 2010, another scientist, Majid Shahriari, was killed and on the same day an attempt was made on the life of nuclear laser expert Prof. Fereidoun Abbasi, injuring him.
Abbasi was later appointed head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Two months ago, he attended a meeting in Vienna of the International Atomic Energy Agency, where he made clear that Iran would continue its nuclear program and would not be deterred by pressure.
Earlier in 2010, Prof. Massoud Ali Mohammadi was killed in Tehran by a bomb attached to his car.
According to Iran, the attacks show that those responsible - Iran blames Israel and the Mossad - are determined to strike at scientists involved in Iran's nuclear program.
All of the targeted Iranian nuclear scientists taught and conducted research at university physics departments. But according to Western officials, they were also working secretly for Iran's military nuclear program.
The attacks seem to be focused on taking out key people involved in the last and most important step on the road to nuclear weapons - the group known as the weapons group.
This is the stage at which the bomb is assembled, mainly an engineering process by which the fissionable materials are inserted into the bomb and an explosive mechanism created.
Iran is believed to have all the knowledge, ability and technology to manufacture a nuclear weapon but has still not assembled the bomb and is even farther from assembling a nuclear warhead on a missile.
To produce weapons-grade explosives, Iran needs to enrich the uranium it already has to 93 percent. This process would take six months from the moment a decision is made to do so, although it cannot be ruled out that Iran has already begun the process at a small facility unknown to intelligence agencies.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/another-iranian-nuclear-scientist-murdered-in-tehran-1.374898
====================
Der Spiegel says Mossad ..
Sabotaging Iran's Nuclear Program .. 08/02/2011
Mossad Behind Tehran Assassinations, Says Source
By Ulrike Putz in Jerusalem
One atomic researcher after the other has died in a series of recent murders in Iran. Is Israel's Mossad trying to sabotage the construction of a nuclear bomb with the attacks? Officials in Jerusalem aren't denying anything. Israeli military generals are even more hawkish, and their calls for air strikes on Iran are growing louder.
"Israel is not responding," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said earlier this week when asked if his country had been involved in the latest slaying of an Iranian nuclear scientist. It didn't exactly sound like a denial, and the smile on his face suggested Israel isn't too bothered by suspicions that it is responsible for a series of murders .. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,739883,00.html .. of physicists involved in the controversial Iranian nuclear program.
There is little doubt in the shadowy world of intelligence agencies that Israel is behind the assassination of Darioush Rezaei. "That was the first serious action taken by the new Mossad chief Tamir Pardo," an Israeli intelligence source told SPIEGEL ONLINE.
On July 23, Rezaei became the latest victim in a mysterious series of attacks over the past 20 months which has seen the virtual decimation of the Islamic republic's elite physicists. The 35-year-old died after being shot in the throat in front of his daughter's kindergarten in east Tehran. The Iranian press has reported that the two alleged perpetrators in the attack escaped on a motorcycle.
A Setback for Iran's Nuclear Program
So who was the man who was shot in front of his wife and daughter? Israeli media reported the scientist, who had a PhD in physics, was working on the development of a trigger for a nuclear warhead. The physicist had apparently been seen daily at a nuclear research center in northern Tehran. An official from a member nation of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency later told the Associated Press that Rezaei had participated in developing high-voltage switches, a key component in setting off the explosions needed to trigger a nuclear warhead.
The fact that Rezaei's death has struck a nerve in Iran is apparent in the official reaction to the killing. Kazem Jalali, the head of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, said the murder of Iranian physicists showed that the United States and Israel are "desperate" in the face of Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Rezaei is the third Iranian nuclear physicist who has paid for his job with his life since the start of 2010:
* In January 2010, the nuclear physicist Masoud Ali Mohammadi .. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,672522,00.html .. died when a remotely detonated bomb rigged to a motorcycle exploded next to his car. Western experts considered Mohammadi to be one of Iran's top nuclear scientists.
* On Nov. 29, 2010, unknown perpetrators committed two attacks which involved motorcyclists attaching explosive devices to their victims' cars while driving. Majid Shahriari, a professor of nuclear physics who specialized in neutron transport, which is relevant for making bombs, was killed when his car exploded. His wife was seriously injured in the attack.
* Fereidoun Abbasi was targeted in a simultaneous attack. Abbasi, an expert in nuclear isotope separation, noticed the suspicious motorcyclist, however, and he and his wife jumped out of the car. They were both injured in the explosion. After Abbasi recovered, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appointed him as one of Iran's vice presidents as well as head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.
Iran suspects that a "triangle of wickedness," consisting of the US, Israel and their hired accomplices, is behind the attacks, according to sources in Tehran. Washington denies any responsibility: "We were not involved," a spokeswoman for the US State Department said in response to Rezaei's death. Israel, for its part, has opted for a policy of ambiguous silence.
Part of a Campaign
According to sources in Israeli intelligence, the killings are part of a campaign to sabotage, or at least slow down, Iran's nuclear program. .. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,739883,00.html .. The alleged campaign also involves other tactics as well as targeted assassinations. The cyber-attack using the Stuxnet computer virus, which paralyzed large parts of the Iranian nuclear program in the summer of 2010, is supposedly also part of Israel's secret campaign against Iran.
But for hardliners in the Israeli military, the covert action does not go far enough. The calls for bombing Iran are getting louder and louder, especially among Israeli Air Force officers, the informant told SPIEGEL ONLINE. There is apparently a heated debate about the effectiveness of such assassination campaigns and whether they can fulfill their goal, reported Yossi Melman, intelligence expert at the Israeli daily Haaretz. In addition, Israel has already faced fierce criticism over other assassinations .. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,739908,00.html .. allegedly committed by its agents in foreign countries.
Until now, Mossad experts have been able to convince decision-makers that the construction of an Iranian bomb can best be delayed through attacks on key figures and nuclear facilities. But it is unclear how long Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will continue to follow this advice. Politicians in Jerusalem know well that Mossad is also pursuing its own interests when it argues that its agents should play the leading role in the struggle against Iran.
"As long as Mossad is leading the fight against the bomb, it will get the big budgets," said the source. Whether there will be an open attack on Iran's nuclear facilities in the future will partly depend on whether the Israeli military or intelligence wins the internal power struggle, the source said. "Just like with everything, this is also about prestige."
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the International Atomic Energy Agency had confirmed that Rezaei had worked on the development of high-voltage switching systems. In reality, it was an official from a member nation of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency who told this to the Associated Press, rather than a official statement by the IAEA. We have corrected the article accordingly.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,777899,00.html
According to Iranian media reports, assailants on a motorcycle killed a 35-year-old Iranian nuclear physicist outside his home and wounded his wife.
By Yossi Melman Tags: Iran nuclear Iran
Published 02:39 24.07.11
Latest update 02:39 24.07.11
An Iranian physicist was gunned down yesterday near his home in south Tehran, according to Iranian media reports.
According to the reports, based on police sources, Darioush Rezaei, 35, was shot dead by two gunmen firing from motorcycles. Rezaei's wife was injured in the attack and rushed to hospital. This is the fourth attack on an Iranian nuclear scientist in the past year. In the previous cases, Iranian media outlets and spokesmen accused the Mossad, the CIA and MI6 of being behind the strikes.
Darioush Rezaei .. Photo by: Haaretz Archive
Rezaei, who was a university lecturer in the city of Ardabil, did his doctorate in neutron transport - which lies at the heart of nuclear chain reactions in reactors and bombs - at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.
He was a member of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the country's official atomic energy commission. Ostensibly this agency is in charge of its civilian nuclear program, but according to various reports it is also involved, together with secret groups in the Revolutionary Guards, in Iran's nuclear weapons' production.
As of last night, official Iranian spokesmen had not issued a response to the killing.
In November 2010, another scientist, Majid Shahriari, was killed and on the same day an attempt was made on the life of nuclear laser expert Prof. Fereidoun Abbasi, injuring him.
Abbasi was later appointed head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Two months ago, he attended a meeting in Vienna of the International Atomic Energy Agency, where he made clear that Iran would continue its nuclear program and would not be deterred by pressure.
Earlier in 2010, Prof. Massoud Ali Mohammadi was killed in Tehran by a bomb attached to his car.
According to Iran, the attacks show that those responsible - Iran blames Israel and the Mossad - are determined to strike at scientists involved in Iran's nuclear program.
All of the targeted Iranian nuclear scientists taught and conducted research at university physics departments. But according to Western officials, they were also working secretly for Iran's military nuclear program.
The attacks seem to be focused on taking out key people involved in the last and most important step on the road to nuclear weapons - the group known as the weapons group.
This is the stage at which the bomb is assembled, mainly an engineering process by which the fissionable materials are inserted into the bomb and an explosive mechanism created.
Iran is believed to have all the knowledge, ability and technology to manufacture a nuclear weapon but has still not assembled the bomb and is even farther from assembling a nuclear warhead on a missile.
To produce weapons-grade explosives, Iran needs to enrich the uranium it already has to 93 percent. This process would take six months from the moment a decision is made to do so, although it cannot be ruled out that Iran has already begun the process at a small facility unknown to intelligence agencies.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/another-iranian-nuclear-scientist-murdered-in-tehran-1.374898
====================
Der Spiegel says Mossad ..
Sabotaging Iran's Nuclear Program .. 08/02/2011
Mossad Behind Tehran Assassinations, Says Source
By Ulrike Putz in Jerusalem
One atomic researcher after the other has died in a series of recent murders in Iran. Is Israel's Mossad trying to sabotage the construction of a nuclear bomb with the attacks? Officials in Jerusalem aren't denying anything. Israeli military generals are even more hawkish, and their calls for air strikes on Iran are growing louder.
"Israel is not responding," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said earlier this week when asked if his country had been involved in the latest slaying of an Iranian nuclear scientist. It didn't exactly sound like a denial, and the smile on his face suggested Israel isn't too bothered by suspicions that it is responsible for a series of murders .. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,739883,00.html .. of physicists involved in the controversial Iranian nuclear program.
There is little doubt in the shadowy world of intelligence agencies that Israel is behind the assassination of Darioush Rezaei. "That was the first serious action taken by the new Mossad chief Tamir Pardo," an Israeli intelligence source told SPIEGEL ONLINE.
On July 23, Rezaei became the latest victim in a mysterious series of attacks over the past 20 months which has seen the virtual decimation of the Islamic republic's elite physicists. The 35-year-old died after being shot in the throat in front of his daughter's kindergarten in east Tehran. The Iranian press has reported that the two alleged perpetrators in the attack escaped on a motorcycle.
A Setback for Iran's Nuclear Program
So who was the man who was shot in front of his wife and daughter? Israeli media reported the scientist, who had a PhD in physics, was working on the development of a trigger for a nuclear warhead. The physicist had apparently been seen daily at a nuclear research center in northern Tehran. An official from a member nation of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency later told the Associated Press that Rezaei had participated in developing high-voltage switches, a key component in setting off the explosions needed to trigger a nuclear warhead.
The fact that Rezaei's death has struck a nerve in Iran is apparent in the official reaction to the killing. Kazem Jalali, the head of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, said the murder of Iranian physicists showed that the United States and Israel are "desperate" in the face of Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Rezaei is the third Iranian nuclear physicist who has paid for his job with his life since the start of 2010:
* In January 2010, the nuclear physicist Masoud Ali Mohammadi .. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,672522,00.html .. died when a remotely detonated bomb rigged to a motorcycle exploded next to his car. Western experts considered Mohammadi to be one of Iran's top nuclear scientists.
* On Nov. 29, 2010, unknown perpetrators committed two attacks which involved motorcyclists attaching explosive devices to their victims' cars while driving. Majid Shahriari, a professor of nuclear physics who specialized in neutron transport, which is relevant for making bombs, was killed when his car exploded. His wife was seriously injured in the attack.
* Fereidoun Abbasi was targeted in a simultaneous attack. Abbasi, an expert in nuclear isotope separation, noticed the suspicious motorcyclist, however, and he and his wife jumped out of the car. They were both injured in the explosion. After Abbasi recovered, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appointed him as one of Iran's vice presidents as well as head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.
Iran suspects that a "triangle of wickedness," consisting of the US, Israel and their hired accomplices, is behind the attacks, according to sources in Tehran. Washington denies any responsibility: "We were not involved," a spokeswoman for the US State Department said in response to Rezaei's death. Israel, for its part, has opted for a policy of ambiguous silence.
Part of a Campaign
According to sources in Israeli intelligence, the killings are part of a campaign to sabotage, or at least slow down, Iran's nuclear program. .. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,739883,00.html .. The alleged campaign also involves other tactics as well as targeted assassinations. The cyber-attack using the Stuxnet computer virus, which paralyzed large parts of the Iranian nuclear program in the summer of 2010, is supposedly also part of Israel's secret campaign against Iran.
But for hardliners in the Israeli military, the covert action does not go far enough. The calls for bombing Iran are getting louder and louder, especially among Israeli Air Force officers, the informant told SPIEGEL ONLINE. There is apparently a heated debate about the effectiveness of such assassination campaigns and whether they can fulfill their goal, reported Yossi Melman, intelligence expert at the Israeli daily Haaretz. In addition, Israel has already faced fierce criticism over other assassinations .. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,739908,00.html .. allegedly committed by its agents in foreign countries.
Until now, Mossad experts have been able to convince decision-makers that the construction of an Iranian bomb can best be delayed through attacks on key figures and nuclear facilities. But it is unclear how long Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will continue to follow this advice. Politicians in Jerusalem know well that Mossad is also pursuing its own interests when it argues that its agents should play the leading role in the struggle against Iran.
"As long as Mossad is leading the fight against the bomb, it will get the big budgets," said the source. Whether there will be an open attack on Iran's nuclear facilities in the future will partly depend on whether the Israeli military or intelligence wins the internal power struggle, the source said. "Just like with everything, this is also about prestige."
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the International Atomic Energy Agency had confirmed that Rezaei had worked on the development of high-voltage switching systems. In reality, it was an official from a member nation of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency who told this to the Associated Press, rather than a official statement by the IAEA. We have corrected the article accordingly.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,777899,00.html
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