Iran's top nuclear scientist was assassinated by a remote-controlled machine gun placed in the back of another car, the country's media says
Iranian Defense Ministry/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
- Iran's top nuclear scientist was killed with a remote-controlled machine gun, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
- Mohsen Fakhrizad, who was seen as the father of Iran's nuclear program, was killed while driving with his wife and security convoy near Tehran on Friday.
- The gun was mounted on the back of a Nissan truck which self-destructed after the three-minute attack, Fars said. Iran has blamed Israel.
- Ali Shamkhani, Iran's top national-security official, said Monday the hit was "conducted using electronic equipment and there was nobody on the scene," suggesting the weapon was remot controlled.
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Iran's foremost nuclear scientist was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun mounted atop a truck, the semi-official Fars news agency has said.
On Friday, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated while driving with his wife and security convoy in Absard, near Tehran. The Iranian defense ministry has given few details of the killing but pointed the finger at Israel.
However, new information about the attack was reported Sunday, with Fars saying that Fakhrizadeh stopped and left his car after mistaking several bullets that had just hit his vehicle for engine trouble.
At this point, Fars said, a Nissan pickup truck stopped 150 meters (492 feet) from Fakhrizadeh, and a gun mounted on the back of the truck opened fire, hitting him twice in the back and once in the spine.
Three security cars had been traveling with Fakhrizadeh, and a bodyguard who launched himself over the scientist's body was also shot, Fars reported.
Iranian Defense Ministry/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
According to Fars, after the hit on Fakhrizadeh was complete, the Nissan truck exploded. The entire attack lasted three minutes, the news agency reported.
Investigations have so far revealed that the registered owner of the Nisan left Iran on Sunday, Fars reported, without citing the person'a identity.
On Monday, the day of Fakhrizadeh's funeral, Iran's top national-security official Ali Shamkhani told reporters the assassination was "conducted using electronic equipment and there was nobody on the scene," according to BBC Monitoring's Kian Sharifi.
Iran has blamed Israel for the attack, with Shamkhani saying on Monday that the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK), a militant group against the Iranian government, was also involved.
Another popular narrative about the killing circulating in Iranian media is that Fakhrizadeh was killed by a team of 12 assassins who were part of a 62-person hit squad.
The claim was made in a series of tweets by prominent Iranian journalist Mohamed Ahwaze, who said that information leaked to him by Iranian intelligence indicated that Fakhrizadeh was dragged out of his car by the leader and shot dead.
On Friday, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, also blamed Israel.
"Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today," Zarif tweeted. "This cowardice — with serious indications of Israeli role — shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators."
Iranian Defense Ministry via Getty Images
US intelligence officials told The New York Times that they believed Israel to be behind the attack.
As Business Insider previously reported, Fakhrizadeh was a former officer in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was widely regarded as the father of Iran's modern nuclear program.
Iran officially denies that it is working to develop nuclear weapons, and in 2015 agreed to limit its uranium stockpile as part of a nuclear deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the JCPOA in 2018, citing a lack of trust in Iran and calling the treaty — negotiated by his predecessor President Barack Obama — a bad deal. He imposed crippling sanctions on Iran in an unsuccessful effort to force the country's leaders to adhere to US demands instead.
Earlier this month the International Atomic Energy Agency found that Iran's uranium stockpile was more than 12 times the limit under the JCPOA.
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