Bomb for a nuclear scientist

Two scientists blown up in Tehran

Iranian nuclear physicist Professor Majid Shahriari was killed and laser physicist Fereidoun Abbasi was seriously injured in two separate attacks on them in Tehran yesterday morning. The scientists' wives, who were in the cars with their spouses, were also injured. In the hospital, the wounded were visited by the Vice President of Iran and the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi.

The attacks were carried out according to the same scenario and almost simultaneously. As the scientists drove to work, motorcyclists overtook their cars and placed explosive devices on their rearview mirrors. In the bodies of both exploded Peugeots there were holes resembling bullet marks - the bombs contained metallic destructive objects.

The assassination attempts on nuclear scientists occurred two days after the completion of fuel loading into the reactor of the Iranian Bushehr nuclear power plant, built with Russian participation. “Israel and Western countries are behind the terrorist attacks,” said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He was supported by Interior Minister Mostafa Najjar: “The American CIA and the Israeli Mossad are the enemies of our nation. They want to stop our scientific progress, but they have committed acts of desperation that demonstrate their helplessness.” State television reported that "terrorist attacks by mercenaries of the Zionist regime were directed against prominent professors - devoted supporters of the Islamic revolution." Iranian media reported that the scientists, both doctors of science, were members of the leadership of the Iranian Nuclear Scientists Association. Abbasi, a former officer in the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, conducted specialized research for the Ministry of Defense.

On January 12 this year, nuclear physics professor Masoud Ali Mohammadi was killed in a motorcycle bomb explosion near his home in Tehran. And at that time, the authorities blamed the murder on the United States and Israel, but they declared their innocence. Another threat to the Iranian nuclear program was the Stuxnet computer virus that became active this fall, which “specializes” in disabling equipment used in nuclear production.

Alexander SAMOKHOTKIN