Tehran Bombings Kill Nuclear-Program Scientist, Injure Another

A scientist involved in Iran’s nuclear program was killed and another injured in bombings the government blamed on the U.S. and Israel.

Majid Shahriari died today as he was heading to his teaching job at Shahid Beheshti University, said state-run news agencies including Mehr. He is the second Iranian physicist killed in the capital in less than a year. Fereydoun Abasi, another university employee, was hurt along with his wife, Mehr said. Abasi, also known as Abasi-Davani, was linked to atomic work in a 2007 United Nations resolution that imposed sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. The UN said he was a senior Defense Ministry and Armed Forces Logistics scientist.

Iran is under international pressure over its nuclear program, which the U.S. and allies say is a cover for building atomic weapons. Iran rejects the allegation and says it needs nuclear technology for civilian purposes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this month that Iran should know that “all options are on the table” to halt the program.

“Majid Shahriari was one of my students for years and had good cooperation with the organization,” Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency, told the official Islamic Republic News Agency. “He was involved in one of the great projects of the organization.”

Shahriari was a member of a regional scientific program known as Sesame, which includes Israel as a member, according to the project’s website. He succeeded Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, an Iranian scientist who died in an attack in January, the Tehran- based Asre-Iran website, which is close to the government, said today. Ali-Mohammadi, a professor of elementary particle physics, was killed by a bomb outside his Tehran home.

CIA, Mossad

Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar accused the U.S. and Israeli intelligence services of being behind the attack on Shahriari. Iran had also blamed Ali-Mohammadi’s killing on the U.S. and Israel.

“The CIA and Mossad are enemies of the Iranian nation and always sought to harm it as they want to prevent our scientific progress,” Mohammad-Najjar said, according to state television. “The enemy is resorting to such actions because it didn’t succeed by threatening and imposing sanctions on Iran.”

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said today that Israel has a longstanding policy of not commenting on such allegations.

The bombs were attached to the men’s cars by magnets, Tehran police chief Hossein Sajedinia was cited as saying by IRNA.

Salehi, who visited Abasi at a hospital, warned Iran’s enemies not to “play with fire” and said that “the patience of Iranian people is limited,” according to IRNA.

Shahriari, a professor of nuclear engineering, acted as an Iranian adviser to the Sesame council, which includes Israel, Egypt, Bahrain, Pakistan, Jordan, Turkey and Palestinians, according to the program’s website.