[Breaking] Iranian nuclear scientist killed in Tehran bomb

[weemadando]

I can't find a link yet, but I've been hearing on the Beeb and ABC News Breakfast that a man who is apparently one of the lead nuclear scientists for Iran was killed by bomb (roadside/car from the sounds of it, not the kind dropped from a plane). Iran is blaming the US/"its mercenaries" for the killing.

[MKSheppard]

We don't do that kind of thing. We prefer aerial drone missiles. The Jews and French however...

[Solauren]

Yes. This is clearly NOT the the American style.

Instead of doing something simple, direct, and easy to avoid responsibility with (i.e road side bombs), the United States Government prefers to spend millions upon millions of dollars killing someone in a way that is obviously and undeniably them.

Iran really needs to get with the program in that regard.

[MarshalPurnell]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8453401.stm

I saw the link a bit earlier. It's obviously not the US responsible. It could be Israel. It could also be the People's Mujahideen, or something even more unlikely. The truth is unlikely to ever be known.

[Stark]

I can't find a link yet, but I've been hearing on the Beeb and ABC News Breakfast that a man who is apparently one of the lead nuclear scientists for Iran was killed by bomb (roadside/car from the sounds of it, not the kind dropped from a plane). Iran is blaming the US/"its mercenaries" for the killing.

It sure is a tragedy when our Brave Diggers get killed by IEDs.

The term 'lead nuclear scientist' doesn't make me confident the guy is anyone important.

[CJvR]

Since there are some claims that the guy was involved with the opposition the regime itself is highly suspect. Blow up someone/thing that the evil foreigners have been whining over and blame them to help rally the nation.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60B0WJ20100112

Iranian officials and state media described professor Massoud Ali-Mohammadi as a nuclear scientist, and Iran's cabinet said agents of the United States were behind his murder.

A State Department official in Washington said charges of U.S. involvement were absurd.

Western sources said Ali-Mohammadi, a physics professor, worked closely with Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi and Fereydoun Abbassi-Davani, both subject to U.N. sanctions because of their work on suspected nuclear weapons development.

The U.N. nuclear agency is investigating Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is for generating electricity and not for building nuclear bombs as the West suspects.

Ali Shirzadian, a spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, said Ali-Mohammadi, 50, had not played a role in the activities of the organization, which is at the center of the disputed nuclear program.

Shahram Amiri, a university researcher working for the atomic body, disappeared during a pilgrimage to Mecca in June, three months before Iran disclosed the existence of its second uranium enrichment site near the city of Qom. In December, Tehran accused Saudi Arabia of handing Amiri over to the United States.

"America's spying and intelligence agents from one side abduct some Iranian citizens ... and on the other side their treacherous agents kill an Iranian citizen inside the country," an Iranian cabinet statement said, reported by the semi-official Fars news agency.

A list of Ali-Mohammadi's publications on Tehran University's website suggested his specialism was theoretical particle physics, not nuclear energy, a Western physics professor said.

The bombing -- a rare attack in the Iranian capital -- occurred at a time of heightened tension in the Islamic Republic seven months after a disputed presidential election plunged the oil producer into turmoil.

It also coincided with a sensitive juncture in Iran's row with the West over its nuclear ambitions, with global powers expected to meet in New York on Saturday to discuss possible new sanctions on Tehran over its refusal to halt its atomic work.

Earlier, Iran's Foreign Ministry blamed Israel and the United States.

"Signs of the triangle of wickedness by the Zionist regime (Israel), America and their hired agents, are visible in the terrorist act," it said.

"Such terrorist acts and the apparent elimination of the country's nuclear scientists will definitely not obstruct scientific and technological processes," it said.

White House spokesman Bill Burton said the accusations were absurd. A senior Israeli official said Ali-Mohammadi was not known to have been a significant figure in any military nuclear program.

BOOBY-TRAPPED MOTORBIKE

English-language Press TV said Ali-Mohammadi was killed in a northern part of the capital by a booby-trapped motorcycle as he was leaving his home. It showed footage of blood stains, broken glass and other debris at the scene, with what appeared to be the dead man in a body bag taken away on a stretcher.

Fars said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had ordered the intelligence and security services to use all their capabilities to find those behind the killing.

State broadcaster IRIB described al-Mohammadi as a "committed and revolutionary" professor, suggesting he backed Ahmadinejad's government. Fars quoted one of his students as saying he had worked with the elite Revolutionary Guards until 2003.

But an opposition website, Jaras, said he was an opposition supporter whose name was among hundreds of academics who issued a statement in favor of moderate candidate Mirhossein Mousavi during the campaign for last June's election.

Even if he had worked on Iran's nuclear program, analysts doubted his death could set back Tehran's aspirations.

"I have no reason to think that this is part of an Israeli or American strategy to deprive Iran of the brains of the enrichment process," said Mark Fitzpatrick, chief proliferation analyst at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies. "There are by now too many scientists and engineers with the requisite expertise".

STRATFOR, a global intelligence firm, said Ali-Mohammadi was unlikely to have been a key figure in nuclear activities since his publishing record pointed to purely academic research.

"The relatively high visibility and volume of work in academia suggests that Ali-Mohammadi's role, if any, in the nuclear program was not very significant," STRATFOR said in an analysis. "Critical scientists involved in nuclear weapons programs usually are sequestered carefully and provided more security than Ali-Mohammadi was given."

Fars quoted a foreign-based group, the Iran Monarchy Association, as claiming responsibility for Tuesday's bombing. It did not say how it obtained the statement.

Iran has been convulsed by its most serious domestic unrest since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 as protests by opposition supporters against the election result have turned violent. Authorities deny opposition allegations that voting was rigged.

[Tanasinn]

My same reaction was just that, actually - that Iran had bumped off someone they didn't need in a desperate attempt to turn attention outward from their blatantly stolen election and the protests thereof.

[cosmicalstorm]

At this point I think Israel would risk being blamed if Ahmadinejad so much as stepped in a pile of dog shit by accident. Besides even if some foreign power did blow the guy up, cry me a river. Iran has spent years exporting ready made explosives and such to kill Americans in Iraq, now someone is doing it to them? Sheesh.

[Sarevok]

Killing one low level guy does no damage and only strengthens Irans support abroad. So if it were Israel it would be a foolish decision.

[Stuart Mackey]

. Iran is blaming the US/"its mercenaries" for the killing.

They know something if they are saying "it's mercenaries", but they cannot prove who it was.

[Sea Skimmer]

It sure is a tragedy when our Brave Diggers get killed by IEDs.

The term 'lead nuclear scientist' doesn't make me confident the guy is anyone important.

Same here. No functional nuclear program would have less then several dozen leading figures anyway, with hundreds or thousands of underlings. Killing one person or even ten just couldn’t have a serious effect. I wouldn’t be surprised though if one of Iran’s domestic terrorists groups actually killed the guy in hopes it would then get them US backing with money and weapons.

[Pelranius]

It's probably the Revolutionary Guards or Basiji. Wouldn't be the first time the Iranians tried false flag operations, though you'd think they would pick a more plausible target. Or Dr. Ali Mohammdi was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Sidewinder]

If the Iranians want to blame the US for terror bombings in their homeland, they need to use a significantly larger bomb- or find a financially poor scapegoat, so no one will ask, "Why would the Americans use such a tiny bomb to assassinate someone?"

[Pelranius]

If the Iranians want to blame the US for terror bombings in their homeland, they need to use a significantly larger bomb- or find a financially poor scapegoat, so no one will ask, "Why would the Americans use such a tiny bomb to assassinate someone?"

Intelligence agencies often use pretty small bombs to perform hits (not just because of consideration for bystanders, but also so that personnel in the vicinity monitoring the operation won't get hurt by shrapnel and such).

[Shroom Man 777]

Killing one low level guy does no damage and only strengthens Irans support abroad. So if it were Israel it would be a foolish decision.

It's not as if Israel hasn't had its fair share of foolish decisions, historically.

[Patrick Degan]

Oh, the regime had a motive to zap Mohammadi:

TEHRAN, Iran — A senior physics professor who publicly backed Iran's opposition leader was killed when a bomb-rigged motorcycle exploded as he left for work Tuesday. The government blamed the U.S. and Israel for the attack.

The blast apparently was set off by a remote trigger, but it was unclear why the professor was targeted. The victim was a 50-year-old researcher with no prominent political voice, no published work with military relevance and no declared links to Iran's nuclear program.

Hard-line backers of the Islamic system have urged stronger measures to try to crush and intimidate anti-government forces. But the Tehran University professor, Masoud Ali Mohammadi, was far from a front-row political player.

He joined a list of 240 faculty members in a declaration supporting opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi before June's disputed presidential election, but did not take any known high-profile role in the protests after the vote.

A Mousavi backer and a member of the intelligentsia, around whom political opposition traditionally clusters. They kill him as a warning to the other intellectuals and make a clumsy claim that "foreign devils" are involved to deflect suspicion. I'm sure they think they were quite clever.