nuclear-news

Fifth assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist

Iranian nuclear chemist killed by motorbike assassins, Saeed Kamali Dehghan and Julian Borger,  guardian.co.uk,   11 January 2012  Tensions escalate with US and Israel as Tehran accuses the Mossad in fifth murder of scientists

A chemist working at Iran‘s main uranium enrichment plant was killed on Wednesday when attackers on a motorbike stuck a magnetic bomb to his car. The assassination – the fifth against Iranian nuclear scientists in the past two years – is likely to further escalate tensions between Iran and the west.

It took place at 8.30am, at the height of rush-hour in Tehran, according to witnesses quoted in the Iranian media. A motorcycle pulled up alongside a silver Peugeot 405 carrying the deputy director of the Natanz enrichment plant, Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, 32.

The pillion passenger stuck a charge to the door next to the chemist, which detonated as the motorcyclist drove off. The car’s driver was also killed and a pedestrian was wounded, but the charge used appeared to have a sophisticated shape that focused the blast into the car. While the door ended up in nearby trees, much of the car remained intact.

Ahmadi-Roshan was the fifth nuclear scientist to be attacked in Tehran in 24 months. Only one target has survived the daytime attacks, apparently carried out by a well-trained hit team. Iran has said the US and Israel are behind the assassinations, and blamed the Mossad for Wednesday’s killings….. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/11/iran-nuclear-chemist-killed?newsfeed=true

January 12, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, Iran, safety