Head of Iran’s nuclear weapons program said assassinated near Tehran

Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh has been called by diplomats ‘the father of the Iranian bomb’ in the past; Netanyahu once said of him: ‘Remember that name, Fakhrizadeh’

By TOI STAFF  Today, 4:00 pm

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands in front of a picture of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who he named as the head of Iran’s nuclear weapons program, April 30, 2018 (YouTube screenshot)<
>

The alleged head of Iran’s nuclear weapons program was assassinated Friday near the capital Tehran, according to multiple reports in Iranian media.

Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a professor of physics and an officer in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, was named by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018 as the director of Iran’s nuclear weapons project.

When Netanyahu revealed then that Israel had removed from a warehouse in Tehran a vast archive of Iran’s own material detailing with its nuclear weapons program, he said: “Remember that name, Fakhrizadeh.”

There were no immediate further details.

Israel is alleged to have assassinated several top Iranian nuclear scientists over the years in a bid to curtail Iran’s nuclear program.

An Israeli TV report later claimed Israel may have decided not to assassinate Fakhrizadeh in the past because it preferred to keep him alive and watch what he was up to.

“If Iran ever chose to weaponize [enrichment], Fakhrizadeh would be known as the father of the Iranian bomb,” a Western diplomat told the Reuters news agency four years ago.

Intelligence expert Ronen Bergman told Israel’s Channel 10 news in 2019 that given that many of his close aides have been killed over the years in assassinations linked to the Mossad, it was “reasonable to assume” that Fakhrizadeh would also have been “picked out” for assassination by the Mossad over the years.

Since Fakhhrizadeh is still alive, said Bergman “one can say: apparently there was an assassination plan.” And apparently it was rejected during the years when Ehud Olmert was prime minister, Bergman added, choosing his words carefully given the limitations of military censorship when it comes to matters of national security.

“Apparently, there were those who came to Olmert… and said, listen, there is a danger that the operation will fail; there is a danger that the forces on the ground will be discovered.”

Olmert evidently chose to heed those concerns and not approve such an operation, said Bergman, a well-connected journalist on Israeli intelligence and security who recently published a landmark book, “Rise and Kill First,” on “the secret history of Israel’s targeted assassinations.”

Olmert was prime minister until 2009, when Netanyahu succeeded him.

Israel has never acknowledged assassinating people involved in the Iranian nuclear program.

<
>
<
>