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==Timeline of incidents== |
==Timeline of incidents== |
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* '''15 January 2007:''' [[Ardeshir Hosseinpour]] reportedly died of gas poisoning from a faulty heater,<ref name=xinhua_5feb2007>{{cite news | url = http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-02/05/content_5696356.htm | title = Tehran denies reports on scientist's "assassination" | accessdate = 2007-02-05 |date = 2007-02-05 | publisher = [[Xinhua News Agency]]}}</ref> though claims or suggestions have been made of foul play.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iranian-nuclear-physicist-killed-by-Revolutionary-Guard-not-Israel-relative-claims-376656|title=Iranian nuclear physicist killed by Revolutionary Guard, not Israel, relative claims|website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com|access-date=13 March 2016}}</ref> <ref name=":1">{{cite news|url=http://www.radiofarda.com/Article/2007/01/21/f4_scientist_nuk_dies.html |title=مرگ مشکوک يک دانشمند هسته ای جمهوری اسلام (Scientist Nuk Dies) |publisher=[[Radio Farda]] |language=Persian |accessdate=4 February 2007}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url= |
* '''15 January 2007:''' [[Ardeshir Hosseinpour]] reportedly died of gas poisoning from a faulty heater,<ref name=xinhua_5feb2007>{{cite news | url = http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-02/05/content_5696356.htm | title = Tehran denies reports on scientist's "assassination" | accessdate = 2007-02-05 |date = 2007-02-05 | publisher = [[Xinhua News Agency]]}}</ref> though claims or suggestions have been made of foul play.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iranian-nuclear-physicist-killed-by-Revolutionary-Guard-not-Israel-relative-claims-376656|title=Iranian nuclear physicist killed by Revolutionary Guard, not Israel, relative claims|website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com|access-date=13 March 2016}}</ref> <ref name=":1">{{cite news|url=http://www.radiofarda.com/Article/2007/01/21/f4_scientist_nuk_dies.html |title=مرگ مشکوک يک دانشمند هسته ای جمهوری اسلام (Scientist Nuk Dies) |publisher=[[Radio Farda]] |language=Persian |accessdate=4 February 2007}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=40909 |title=The Media Line |date=30 September 2014 |access-date=13 March 2016 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140930073938/http://themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=40909 |archivedate=30 September 2014 }}</ref> |
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[[file:Masoud Alimohammadi.jpg|thumbnail|Masoud Alimohammadi, an assassinated Iranian nuclear scientist.]] |
[[file:Masoud Alimohammadi.jpg|thumbnail|Masoud Alimohammadi, an assassinated Iranian nuclear scientist.]] |
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* '''12 January 2010''': Masoud Alimohammadi was killed on his way to work by a [[booby-trap]]ped motorcycle parked near his car in north Tehran.<ref name="Time line" /> |
* '''12 January 2010''': Masoud Alimohammadi was killed on his way to work by a [[booby-trap]]ped motorcycle parked near his car in north Tehran.<ref name="Time line" /> |
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===Iranian government=== |
===Iranian government=== |
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In 2007, [[Ardeshir Hosseinpour]], a junior Iranian scientist who may have been involved in Iranian nuclear research, was reported by Iranian news sources to have died from gas inhalation caused by a faulty heater.<ref name=":1">{{cite news|url=http://www.radiofarda.com/Article/2007/01/21/f4_scientist_nuk_dies.html |title=مرگ مشکوک يک دانشمند هسته ای جمهوری اسلام (Scientist Nuk Dies) |publisher=[[Radio Farda]] |language=Persian |accessdate=4 February 2007}}</ref><ref name=xinhua_5feb2007/> Stratfor claimed that Hosseinpour had been assassinated by Mossad, but Iranian officials denied this at the time, declaring their scientists to be "safe".<ref name=xinhua_5feb2007/> In 2014, Hosseinpour{{'}}s sister Mahboobeh accused the [[Iranian Revolutionary Guard]] of killing her brother for allegedly refusing to work on Iran{{'}}s nuclear enrichment program. Hosseinpour said the information came from her sister-in law.<ref name="CNN"/><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url= |
In 2007, [[Ardeshir Hosseinpour]], a junior Iranian scientist who may have been involved in Iranian nuclear research, was reported by Iranian news sources to have died from gas inhalation caused by a faulty heater.<ref name=":1">{{cite news|url=http://www.radiofarda.com/Article/2007/01/21/f4_scientist_nuk_dies.html |title=مرگ مشکوک يک دانشمند هسته ای جمهوری اسلام (Scientist Nuk Dies) |publisher=[[Radio Farda]] |language=Persian |accessdate=4 February 2007}}</ref><ref name=xinhua_5feb2007/> Stratfor claimed that Hosseinpour had been assassinated by Mossad, but Iranian officials denied this at the time, declaring their scientists to be "safe".<ref name=xinhua_5feb2007/> In 2014, Hosseinpour{{'}}s sister Mahboobeh accused the [[Iranian Revolutionary Guard]] of killing her brother for allegedly refusing to work on Iran{{'}}s nuclear enrichment program. Hosseinpour said the information came from her sister-in law.<ref name="CNN"/><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=40909 |title=The Media Line |date=30 September 2014 |access-date=13 March 2016 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140930073938/http://themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=40909 |archivedate=30 September 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/1.618876|title=Sister of Murdered Iranian Nuclear Scientist Blames Revolutionary Guards – Not Israel|last=Haaretz|date=2 October 2014|newspaper=Haaretz|language=en|access-date=13 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.nationalpost.com/news/israel-didnt-assassinate-iranian-physicist-in-2007-revolutionary-guard-did-sister-says|title=Israel didn't assassinate Iranian physicist in 2007 — Revolutionary Guard did, sister says|website=National Post|access-date=13 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-accused-of-assassinating-its-own-nuclear-scientist/|title=Iran accused of assassinating its own nuclear scientist|website=The Times of Israel|access-date=13 March 2016}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iranian-nuclear-physicist-killed-by-Revolutionary-Guard-not-Israel-relative-claims-376656|title=Iranian nuclear physicist killed by Revolutionary Guard, not Israel, relative claims|website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com|access-date=13 March 2016}}</ref> |
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Some analysts also consider the Iranian government to be a suspect in the assassination of Masoud Alimohammadi in 2010, based on reports that he was engaged in dissident activities. The same analysts, however, discount the Iranian government as a suspect in some of the other attacks, as the targets were "critical nuclear assets"<ref name="CNN"/> of the regime.<ref name="CNN"/> |
Some analysts also consider the Iranian government to be a suspect in the assassination of Masoud Alimohammadi in 2010, based on reports that he was engaged in dissident activities. The same analysts, however, discount the Iranian government as a suspect in some of the other attacks, as the targets were "critical nuclear assets"<ref name="CNN"/> of the regime.<ref name="CNN"/> |
Revision as of 15:09, 31 March 2016
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Four Iranian nuclear scientists—Masoud Alimohammadi, Majid Shahriari, Darioush Rezaeinejad and Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan—have been killed since 2010.[1][2] Two of the murders were carried out using magnetic bombs attached to the targets' cars; Darioush Rezaeinejad was shot dead; and Masoud Alimohammadi was killed in a motorcycle bomb explosion.[3] In June 2012, the Iranian government claimed that it had arrested all the terrorists behind the assassinations.[4]
The Iranian government has accused Israel of carrying out the killings;[4] Israel has not publicly commented on the matter.[5] Moshe Ya'alon, the Israeli defence minister, stated, "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."[5] According to Michael Burleigh and Michael Rubin, the assassinations may have been carried out by the dissident Mujahedin-e-Khalq group on behalf of Mossad. Mark Hibbs states that Iranians who oppose the current regime could have carried out the attacks, either with or without Israeli involvement.[6][7]
According to other analysts, the killings may have been commissioned by unnamed "Arab intelligence agencies", using locals to carry out the attacks. The sister of one of the victims has accused the Iranian government itself of being behind her brother's killing. Analysts consider the Iranian government a possible suspect in at least one of the attacks but not in others.[7]
Timeline of incidents
- 15 January 2007: Ardeshir Hosseinpour reportedly died of gas poisoning from a faulty heater,[8] though claims or suggestions have been made of foul play.[9] [10][11]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/54/Masoud_Alimohammadi.jpg/220px-Masoud_Alimohammadi.jpg)
- 12 January 2010: Masoud Alimohammadi was killed on his way to work by a booby-trapped motorcycle parked near his car in north Tehran.[2]
- 29 November 2010: Majid Shahriari was killed in northern Tehran by a magnetic bomb attached to his car by a motorcyclist.[12]
- 23 July 2011: Rezaeinejad was killed by motorcycle-borne gunmen in July 2011 outside the front gate of the family home.[13]
- 11 January 2012: Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan was killed by a magnetic bomb attached to his car.[1]
- 3 January 2015: Iran claimed to have thwarted an attack on an Iranian nuclear scientist.[4]
Alleged perpetrators
Israel
Although Israel has made no public comments on any of the incidents, Tehran has accused Mossad of assassinating Iran's nuclear scientists to hinder the country's nuclear program.[14][4] Israeli defence minister Moshe Ya'alon stated in an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel, "Ultimately it is very clear, one way or another, Iran's military nuclear programme must be stopped", and said Israel will use its full capacity to prohibit Iran from producing nuclear weapons.[5] General Yoav Mordechai, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, said he had "no idea who targeted the Iranian scientist but I certainly don't shed a tear."[7]
According to analysts Michael Burleigh, Michael Rubin and Mark Hibbs, the assassinations may have been carried out by Iranians working on behalf of Mossad. British author and historian Michael Burleigh said the assassinations could be attributed to Israel based on its previous ventures, including Operation Damocles against Nazi scientists, alleged involvement of Israel in the killing of Gerald Bull, and the targeted assassinations of key Hamas and Hezbollah figures, such as Yahya Ayyash and Imad Mughniyah, by Shin Bet.[6][7]
According to Dan Raviv, "an assassination campaign aimed at Iran's top nuclear scientists" intended to "slow the progress made by Iran" was run by Israel for several years, although Israel never acknowledged it.[15] Stratfor, an American private intelligence firm, suggested that Mossad’s Caesarea section, the operations branch of Israel’s secret service, may have been responsible for the death of Iranian scientist Ardeshir Hosseinpour by means of "radioactive poisoning".[16]
In early 2011, a young Iranian named Majid Fashi confessed on Iranian state television to the killing of Masoud Alimohammadi, saying that he had trained for the operation at a Mossad facility near Tel Aviv. Fashi was executed in May 2012. The same month, Iranian authorities announced the arrest of another 14 Iranians—eight men and six women—whom they described as a terror cell trained by Israel and responsible for carrying out five of the attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists. According to Time magazine, Western intelligence officials confirmed the cracking of two Mossad-backed espionage rings by Iranian intelligence.[16] After the arrests, Iran said it was confident it had arrested all those responsible for the attacks.[4] Iran’s IRTV Channel 1 showed a half-hour documentary entitled "the Terror Club", featuring "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."[17][18]Time states that Iran later attempted to retaliate against Israel by launching up to 20 hastily-organized attacks on Israeli diplomatic missions around the world, none of which were successful.[16]
Mojahedin-e-Khalq
An NBC News investigation said the assassinations were carried out by Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), an Iranian opposition movement-in-exile that advocates the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Two senior US government officials were cited as believing MEK to have been responsible for the killings. While the MEK denies any involvement with Israel, Israeli commentators have confirmed the MEK-Israeli connection.[19][20]
Iranian government
In 2007, Ardeshir Hosseinpour, a junior Iranian scientist who may have been involved in Iranian nuclear research, was reported by Iranian news sources to have died from gas inhalation caused by a faulty heater.[10][8] Stratfor claimed that Hosseinpour had been assassinated by Mossad, but Iranian officials denied this at the time, declaring their scientists to be "safe".[8] In 2014, Hosseinpour's sister Mahboobeh accused the Iranian Revolutionary Guard of killing her brother for allegedly refusing to work on Iran's nuclear enrichment program. Hosseinpour said the information came from her sister-in law.[7][11][21][22][23][9]
Some analysts also consider the Iranian government to be a suspect in the assassination of Masoud Alimohammadi in 2010, based on reports that he was engaged in dissident activities. The same analysts, however, discount the Iranian government as a suspect in some of the other attacks, as the targets were "critical nuclear assets"[7] of the regime.[7]
United States
Iranian officials blame the United States, in addition to Israel, for the killings; in response, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, "I want to categorically deny any United States involvement in any kind of act of violence inside Iran".[7] According to Trita Parsi, the killings were not carried out by the US and they were not consistent with the manner in which US intelligence agencies would perform them. Michael Rubin agreed, saying that he did not think the US had the necessary "human intelligence knowledge".[7]
References
- ^ a b Hasan, Mehdi. "Iran's nuclear scientists are not being assassinated. They are being murdered". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- ^ a b Meikle, James. "Iran: timeline of attacks". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- ^ Vick, Karl; Klein, Aaron J. "Who Assassinated an Iranian Nuclear Scientist? Israel Isn't Telling". Time. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
- ^ a b c d e Staff writers (4 January 2015). "Iran 'thwarts Mossad attempt to assassinate nuclear scientist'". Russia Today. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
- ^ a b c Sridharan, Vasudevan. "Israel hints at resuming assassinations of Iran nuclear scientists". International Business Times. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
- ^ a b Burleigh, Michael (12 January 2012). "An informal addition to the laws of physics – don't work for Iran". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Levs, Josh (11 January 2012). "Who's killing Iranian nuclear scientists?". CNN. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
- ^ a b c "Tehran denies reports on scientist's "assassination"". Xinhua News Agency. 5 February 2007. Retrieved 5 February 2007.
- ^ a b "Iranian nuclear physicist killed by Revolutionary Guard, not Israel, relative claims". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
- ^ a b "مرگ مشکوک يک دانشمند هسته ای جمهوری اسلام (Scientist Nuk Dies)" (in Persian). Radio Farda. Retrieved 4 February 2007.
- ^ a b "The Media Line". 30 September 2014. Archived from the original on 30 September 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ Borger, Julia; Kamali Dehghan, Saeed. "Covert war against Iran's nuclear aims takes chilling turn". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- ^ Koring, Paul (18 June 2012). "The undeclared war on Iran's nuclear program". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
- ^ Staff writers (1 April 2015). "Iran accuses Israel of killing nuclear scientists". i24news. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
- ^ Raviv, Dan. "U.S. pushing Israel to stop assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists". CBC News. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ^ a b c Vick, Kar. "Spy Fail: Why Iran Is Losing Its Covert War with Israel". Time. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
- ^ Torbati, Yeganeh (6 August 2012). "Iran airs "confessions" in killings of nuclear scientists". Reuters. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
- ^ Staff writers. "Iran: Guarantee Rights of 'Terror' Suspects". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
- ^ Cockburn, Patrick. "Just who has been killing Iran's nuclear scientists?". Independent. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
- ^ Staff writers. "Israel's Mossad Trained Assassins of Iran Nuclear Scientists, Report Says". Haaretz. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
- ^ Haaretz (2 October 2014). "Sister of Murdered Iranian Nuclear Scientist Blames Revolutionary Guards – Not Israel". Haaretz. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
- ^ "Israel didn't assassinate Iranian physicist in 2007 — Revolutionary Guard did, sister says". National Post. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
- ^ "Iran accused of assassinating its own nuclear scientist". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 13 March 2016.