On Nov. 29, unidentified motorcyclists detonated the cars of two Iranian
nuclear scientists in Teheran. One of the scientists, identified as Majid
Shahriari, was killed, and another, Fereidoun Abbasi, was said to have been
seriously injured, Middle East Newsline reported.
"Assassination of the Iranian scientists by enemies indicates a fear of
the country's progress towards independence," Iranian Interior Minister
Mostafa Najar, who blamed Israel for the killings, said.
Both Iranian targets were described as university instructors. Officials
did not say whether they worked in Iran's nuclear program.
Officials blamed Israel for the attacks. Several days later, Iran
reported the arrest of several suspects.
"This violated all rules of human behavior," the Iranian Foreign
Ministry said.
Abbasi was said to have been a laser specialist at the Iranian Defense
Ministry. A pro-government Web site, mashreghnews.ir, asserted that Abbasi, a
veteran of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was an expert in
nuclear isotope separation. Shahriari was identified as a member of the
nuclear engineering faculty at Shahid Beheshti University.
The latest strike was said to have been similar to a January assassination of another Iranian nuclear scientist. Masoud Ali Mohammadi was
identified as a physics professor at Teheran University.
Israel was also blamed for the killing of another nuclear scientist in
2007. Ardeshir Hosseinpour was said to have died from gas poisoning. and
Iran concealed his death for one week.
"By God, if such a thing happens again, we will put each of the UN
Security Council permanent members on trial," Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad said. "They falsely think that if they take nuclear scientists
or other scientists from us, the progress of the Iranian nation
will be stopped. Intelligence forces will completely guard the scientists."
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