Iran's senior nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizada
Iran's Defense Ministry has confirmed that the country's most senior nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizada, has been killed in an attack near the capital, Tehran.
Fakhrizada died at the hospital after the attack on Absard.
Iranian Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif has called it "state terrorism" and accused it of "indications" of Israeli involvement.
"This cowardly act, which hints at Israel's role, shows how desperate its perpetrators are for war," he said in a tweet.
He called on the international community to condemn "this act of state terrorism".
The Iranian government has congratulated Fakhrizada on his "martyrdom."
According to the Iranian news agency, the attackers first detonated a bomb and then opened fire on Fakhrizada's car.
Western intelligence agencies have called Fakhrizadeh the mastermind of Iran's secret nuclear weapons program.
Diplomats from many countries also called him the "father of the Iranian bomb."
The news of his death comes at a time when there is concern that Iran is enriching uranium in large quantities. Uranium enrichment is a key component of civilian nuclear power generation and military nuclear weapons.
Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Fakhri's son was injured in the attack and later died at the hospital.
What happened to Mohsin Fakhrizada?
The Iranian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday that "armed terrorists targeted the vehicle carrying Mohsen Fakhrizada, head of the ministry's research and innovation organization." Fakhri's son was seriously injured in a clash between the terrorists and their bodyguards and was taken to hospital.
"Unfortunately, the medical team's efforts to save him failed and he died a few minutes ago."
The Fars News Agency had earlier reported that a car bomb had exploded on Mustafa Khomeini Boulevard in the city of Absard. The report said that according to eyewitnesses, "three to four people, who were called terrorists, were killed in the incident." Fars News reported that security forces had confirmed the news.
Iran's reaction
"Terrorists have killed a prominent Iranian scientist," Iranian Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif said in a tweet.
"This cowardly act, which hints at Israel's role, shows how desperate its perpetrators are for war."
The Revolutionary Guards commander has said he will avenge the killing of an Iranian scientist, as he has done in the past.
Major General Hussain Salami said that the killing of nuclear scientists is the most obvious violation of global supremacy to prevent our access to modern science.
No statement from Israel has been released on the killing. The Pentagon has declined to comment, according to Reuters.
Who was Mohsin Fakhrizada?
Fakhrizada was a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist and a senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Western security sources considered him to be extremely influential and a key supporter of Iran's nuclear program.
According to an important document obtained by Israel in 2018, he was the head of the nuclear weapons program.
In May 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu specifically named Fakhrizada in connection with Iran's nuclear program.
In 2015, the New York Times compared him to J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist who directed the Manhattan Project and who developed the first nuclear weapon during World War II.
Fakhrizada was born in 1958 in the Iranian city of Qom, according to a 2011 report by the Iranian opposition group NCRI.
As a physics professor, he is said to have headed Project Emad, allegedly the same secret program that was launched in 1989 to possibly build an atomic bomb. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the program was discontinued in 2003.
It should be noted that four Iranian scientists were killed between 2010 and 2012 and Iran has been accusing Israel of being involved in their killing.
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