Prominent Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated east of the capital Tehran on Friday, Iran’s defense ministry confirmed in a statement.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Fakhrizadeh died in hospital due to injuries sustained during a shoot-out between his bodyguards and “armed terrorists” Friday afternoon, the statement said.The statement described Fakhrizadeh as the head of the defense ministry’s “Research and Innovation Organization.”The defense ministry did not accuse any parties of involvement.The semi-official Tasnim news agency, as well as other Iranian outlets including the official IRIB news agency earlier reported the assassination, adding that he was reportedly killed in the city of Absard, 43 miles east of the Iranian capital.Fakhrizadeh has long been described by Western, Israeli andIranian exile foes of Iran's clerical rulers as a leader of a covert atomic bomb programme halted in 2003. Iran has long denied seeking to weaponise nuclear energy.With ReutersRead more:Iranian diplomat refuses to appear at bomb plot trial in Belgium: LawyerIranian diplomat, three others face trial in Belgium over suspected bomb plotTwitter suspends account of senior Iranian official Mohsen Rezaei
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh assassinated: Ministry of Defense
Netanyahu ignores IDF generals, runs his own show
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Source: Al Monitor
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Erdogan weighs new reality in US-Turkey ties under Biden
The Turkish president, after backing Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabagh, could feel emboldened to move in Syria, but anticipating the next administration may give pause.
Source: Al Monitor
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Who was Mohsin Fakhrizadeh, the assassinated ‘father of Iran’s nuclear bomb’
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the Iranian nuclear scientist long suspected by the West of masterminding a secret atomic weapons program was assassinated near Tehran on Friday, Iranian state media reported.He died of injuries in hospital after armed assassins fired on his car, Iranian media reported.Fakhrizadeh has long been described by Western, Israeli and Iranian exile foes of Iran’s clerical rulers as a leader of a covert atomic bomb program halted in 2003. Iran has long denied seeking to weaponize nuclear energy.Here is everything you need to know about him:'Father of Iran’s nuclear bomb'Fakhrizadeh, reportedly a senior officer in the Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), is thought to have headed what the UN nuclear watchdog and US intelligence services believe was a coordinated nuclear weapons program in Iran, shelved in 2003.He had the rare distinction of being the only Iranian scientist named in the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 2015 “final assessment” of open questions about Iran’s nuclear program and whether it was aimed at developing a nuclear bomb.Fakhrizadeh was named in a 2007 UN resolution on Iran as a person involved in nuclear or ballistic missile activities. An IAEA report the following year also referred to him briefly.Iranian media rarely mention him. In 2007, the semi-official Mehr News Agency described him as a scientist working for the Defense Ministry and a former head of the Physics Research Centre, a body also mentioned in the IAEA’s report.Some Iranian websites said he was a university professor.But Western analysts acknowledged that little is publicly known about Fakhrizadeh, described by Albright’s think tank as a nuclear engineer who has overseen a number of projects related to weaponization research and development.The IAEA had said in 2002-2003, Fakhrizadeh was the executive officer of the so-called AMAD Plan, which according to its information conducted studies related to uranium, high explosives and the revamping of a missile cone to accommodate a nuclear warhead.“If Iran ever chose to weaponise (enrichment), Fakhrizadeh would be known as the father of the Iranian bomb,” a Western diplomat who is critical of Iran’s nuclear program had told Reuters.Multiple passports, support of KhameneiA high-ranking Iranian source, told Reuters Fakhrizadeh was “an asset and an expert” dedicated to Iran’s technological progress and enjoying the full support of its most powerful man, clerical Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.The source added that Fakhrizadeh had three passports and travelled a lot, including in Asia, to obtain “the latest information” from abroad, but would not elaborate. Western security sources say Iran has been adept in obtaining nuclear materials and know-how from the international black market.An exiled Iranian opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), had issued a report in 2014 with what it said was a photograph of Fakhrizadeh, with dark hair and the customary beard stubble sported by backers of Iran’s Islamic leadership. It was not possible to independently verify it. A NCRI spokesman said it was “not very recent” but gave no detail.The NCRI said Fakhrizadeh was born in 1958 in the holy Shia Muslim city of Qom, is a deputy defense minister and a Revolutionary Guards brigadier-general, holds a nuclear engineering doctorate and teaches at Iran’s University of Imam Hussein. It said he was the head of a secretive body which it called “the command center” behind atomic bomb-related activity.Read more:Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh assassinated: Ministry of DefenseMohsen Fakhrizadeh: The father of Iranian regime’s nuclear bombIsrael's Netanyahu urges no return to Iran nuclear deal
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Who was Mohsin Fakhrizadeh, the assassinated ‘father of Iran’s nuclear bomb’
Attacks on scientists in Iran in recent years: A list
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was assassinated in Tehran on Friday, is the latest Iranian nuclear scientist to be attacked since 2012.Fakhrizadeh died of injuries in hospital after assassins fired on his car, Iran's armed forces said in a statement carried by state media. He had been described by Western, Israeli and Iranian exile opponents of Iran's clerical rulers as a leader of a covert atomic bomb program halted in 2003.Iran has long denied seeking to weaponize nuclear energy.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Here are some details of other attacks on Iranian scientists in recent years:Massoud Ali-MohammadiNuclear scientist Massoud Ali-Mohammadi was killed by a remote-controlled bomb in Tehran on Jan. 12, 2010. Some opposition websites said he had backed moderate candidate Mirhossein Mousavi in the disputed 2009 election that secured a second presidential term for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.Iranian officials described the physics professor as a nuclear scientist but a spokesman said he did not work for the Atomic Energy Organization. He lectured at Tehran University.Western sources said the professor worked closely with Fakhrizadeh and Fereydoun Abbassi-Davani, who were both subject to U.N. sanctions because of their work on suspected nuclear weapons development.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.Majid ShahriyariShahriyari was killed and his wife was wounded in a car bomb blast in Tehran on Nov. 29, 2010, in what Iranian officials called an Israeli or US-sponsored attack on its atomic program.Iran’s atomic energy agency chief Ali Akbar Salehi said Shahriyari had a role in one of its biggest nuclear projects, but did not elaborate, the official news agency IRNA reported. He was a lecturer at Shahid Beheshti University.Fereydoun Abbassi-DavaniAbbasi-Davani and his wife were hurt in a car bomb blast on the same day as Shahriyari was killed.Abbasi-Davani, who was head of physics at Imam Hossein University, had been personally subject to UN sanctions because of what Western officials said was his involvement in suspected nuclear weapons research. The intelligence minister at the time, Heydar Moslehi, later said: “This terrorist act was carried out by intelligence services such as the CIA, Mossad and the MI6. A group that wanted to carry out a terrorist act but did not succeed, was also arrested. They confessed that they were trained by these intelligence services.”Abbasi-Davani was appointed vice-president and head of the Atomic Energy Organization in February 2011, Fars news agency reported, but was removed in August 2013, the state news agency IRNA reported.Darioush RezaiRezai, 35, was shot dead by gunmen in eastern Tehran on July 23, 2011. The university lecturer had a PhD in physics. Deputy Interior Minister Safarali Baratlou said he was not linked to Iran's nuclear program after early reports in some media said he was.Mostafa Ahmadi-RoshanAhmadi-Roshan, a 32-year-old chemical engineering graduate, was killed by a bomb placed on his car by a motorcyclist in Tehran in January 2012. Another passenger died in hospital and a pedestrian was also injured. The attack was similar to that in November 2010.Iran said the victim was a nuclear scientist who supervised a department at Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility. Iran blamed Israel and the United States for the attack.Read more:Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh assassinated: Ministry of DefenseEverything to know about the assassinated Fakhrizadeh, father of Iran’s nuclear bombIranian diplomat, three others face trial in Belgium over suspected bomb plotIranian diplomat refuses to appear at bomb plot trial in Belgium: Lawyer
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Attacks on scientists in Iran in recent years: A list
Veteran Egyptian human rights activist dies of Covid-19
Hafez Abu Seada, a co-founder of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights who was arrested several times by the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak, died of Covid-19..
Source: Albawaba
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In a changing Middle East, Abraham Accords will usher in new era for technology
Collaboration in the form of partnerships and joint ventures around technology between Israel and the United Arab Emirates could be indicative of the wider shift expected in a post-Abraham Accords Middle East.
Source: Al Monitor
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Hundreds of Syrians exit Lebanese town over tensions: UN
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Source: Albawaba
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European Parliament calls for Algerian journalist Khaled Drareni’s immediate release
The European Parliament has passed an urgent resolution calling for the release of jailed journalist Khaled Drarerni, citing the 'deterioration of human rights in Algeria'..
Source: Albawaba
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Live Updates: Iran’s Top Nuclear Scientist Killed in Attack, State Media Say
The scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was described by American intelligence assessments as the force behind Iran’s nuclear weapons program. News reports in Iran say he died after being attacked in a vehicle..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Live Updates: Iran’s Top Nuclear Scientist Killed in Attack, State Media Say