Iranian nuclear physicist assassinated.

[Aryajet]

(AP) Updated at 12:51 p.m. Eastern.

A nuclear physics professor who publicly backed Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in the disputed June presidential election was killed Tuesday when a bomb-rigged motorcycle blew up outside his home.

The blast, apparently set off by a remote trigger, left a puzzling mix of clues about why a 50-year-old researcher with no prominent political voice, no published work with military relevance and no declared links to Iran's nuclear program would be targeted.

State media identified the victim as Masoud Ali Mohammadi, a professor at Tehran University, which has been at the center of recent protests by student opposition supporters. Before the election, pro-reform Web sites published Ali Mohammadi's name among a list of 240 Tehran University teachers who supported Mousavi.

Hard-line government supporters called at recent street rallies for the execution of opposition leaders. But Ali Mohammadi was not a well-known opposition figure in Iran.

The government blamed the rare assassination on an armed Iranian opposition group that it said operated under the direction of Israel and the U.S. Iran often accuses the two countries of meddling in its affairs — both when it comes to postelection unrest and its nuclear program.

"Since Ali Mohammadi was one of the scientists of physics and nuclear energy, most probably intelligence services and elements of the Mossad and CIA had a hand in his assassination," the Web site of state television quoted Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabad as saying. The accusation was echoed by the Foreign ministry.

Rest here:

Bomb Kills Reform-Minded Iran Professor - CBS News

[Dreadnought]

The government blamed the rare assassination on an armed Iranian opposition group that it said operated under the direction of Israel and the U.S. Iran often accuses the two countries of meddling in its affairs — both when it comes to postelection unrest and its nuclear program.

"Since Ali Mohammadi was one of the scientists of physics and nuclear energy, most probably intelligence services and elements of the Mossad and CIA had a hand in his assassination," the Web site of state television quoted Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabad as saying. The accusation was echoed by the Foreign ministry.


*The biggest crock of shit ever written. Why would the West be interested in killing a rival to Adinnerjacket? Answer: We wouldnt be, nothing but more lies and propaghanda just like any other day. If anyone was threatened by this man it was the very regime now pointing fingers at the west. We already have what we need to know about the nuclear plants and regimes plans.

Who had more to gain in his death? The West nope. Adinnerjacket and company? Absolutely, no more opposition.:P:P

Be a man Adinnerjacket and for once speak the truth instead of the camel shit that normally flows from that void on your rotten little head.:P

[Aryajet]

It is always some foreign straw man doing all these things, barbaric republic is too holey to commit any err.
These kind of jargon are indented for limited domestic audinace, majority don't give a hoot what regimes mouth pieces spew out on their reports.

Not long ago IRIB and PressTV claimed that they have solved the mysteries behind Neda's death in the streets of Tehran. They claimed the blood gushing out of her throat was from a bladder embedded under her jacket and after the scene was taped for propaganda purposes she was shot by an Israeli operative accompanying her in a taxi on the way to hospital.:D

[Dreadnought]

It is always some foreign straw man doing all these things, barbaric republic is too holey to commit any err.
These kind of jargon are indented for limited domestic audinace, majority don't give a hoot what regimes mouth pieces spew out on their reports.

Not long ago IRIB and PressTV claimed that they have solved the mysteries behind Neda's death in the streets of Tehran. They claimed the blood gushing out of her throat was from a bladder embedded under her jacket and after the scene was taped for propaganda purposes she was shot by an Israeli operative accompanying her in a taxi on the way to hospital.:D

*Its ok, sometimes we in the West feel more insulted by the way the regime treats the people and the amount of intelligence the regime gives them credit for. Just make sure that when all is said and done...You HANG EM HIGH! and we are all square after that.)

[S2]

Any scientist worth his salt that's ENGAGED in that program is protected like few others in that society is my guess. Restrictive protection even.

Not saying that we couldn't get to somebody but those guys aren't 9-5ing it and then hitting the freeway home to mom and the kiddies.

Cloistered communities, 24/7 guard...all that type of stuff.

This guy was a prof and as accessible as you or I. Says everything. Not our kind of target at all.

[zara]

Not that id beleive anything the regime had to say, but what would they have to gain from the asassination?

[omon]

Not that id beleive anything the regime had to say, but what would they have to gain from the asassination?

it depends what side you look at it.

a jad could be getting rid of competition, but why scientist???? why not leader of opposition, plus, why a jad would derail his own nuke research???

us and Israel, are trying to shut down Iranian nuke program for years, outright war is not a good idea at this time, taking away the brains of the program sure will delay it at least, so i believe it very well could be us or israeli job, i also think it is a lot better way to mess with nuke program than a war.
world is not black and white, there is always a dirty job that someone has to do for greater good.

[Traxus]

I read that the prof was just that, a university professor. Apparently he wasn't even researching nuclear physics, he was doing quantum or cosmology stuff. Can't confirm, just what I heard.

[citanon]

Not that id beleive anything the regime had to say, but what would they have to gain from the asassination?

This might be a clue:

Was an Iranian Nuclear Physicist Killed by His Own Government? - Declassified Blog - Newsweek.com

Posted Tuesday, January 12, 2010 4:48 PM
Was an Iranian Nuclear Physicist Killed by His Own Government?
Babak Dehghanpisheh

As Middle East intrigue goes, it doesn't get much stranger than this: at approximately 8 a.m. this morning, Massoud Ali Mohammadi, a nuclear physics professor at Tehran University, was killed by a bomb outside his home in a quiet northern suburb of Tehran. This may not have seemed that odd if it had taken place in Baghdad or Kabul. But assassinations─particularly with a remote-control bomb hidden inside a motorcycle─are not common in Iran.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman quickly pointed fingers outside the country's borders, blaming Israel and the United States for the killing as a means of thwarting the country's nuclear program. Obama administration officials emphatically deny any U.S. involvement in the murder. Fars News, a wire service affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, ran an item alleging that a pro-monarchy group had claimed responsibility. Fars also ran an article claiming the professor was devout and had worked with the Revolutionary Guards until six years ago.

But several opposition Web sites have printed a statement showing Ali Mohammadi's name among 420 Tehran University instructors who had pledged their support for candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi last June. Other accounts on opposition Web sites are more explicit. "[Ali Mohammadi] was Green all the way!" writes one of his former students in the Dalan Sabz blog. The student describes how Ali Mohammadi had encouraged his class to join the post-election protests and allegedly brought in a minibus to take some out to join the crowds. Several other students wrote in with similar accounts on the blog.
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These reports on the opposition Web sites, though they can't say so directly, are obviously insinuating that Ali Mohammadi was killed because of his political views, not his ties to the nuclear program. A New York Times report says he specialized in particle and theoretical physics, not making nuclear bombs. And the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, for its part, has denied that Ali Mohammadi worked on the nuclear program.

Still, there are similarities to the case of Shahram Amiri, another university researcher working for the Atomic Energy Organization who went to Mecca last summer and never came back. The Iranian government has accused Saudi Arabia of handing Amiri over to the United States, but there are many unanswered questions. If Ali Mohammadi was assassinated, it would be seen as a clear message to anyone privy to the country's nuclear info to keep quiet. (And if he really was sympathetic to the Green wave, he might have been considered likely to talk out of turn.)

Ali Mohammadi's death has had a chilling effect on the staff at Tehran University. One employee at the university says that a climate of fear has settled over the campus today. One week ago, 88 Tehran University professors wrote a letter to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei asking that the government stop using violence against protesters. It's hard to imagine that a similar letter would be sent out now. "The explosion of a bomb in front of a university professor's house isn't a simple occurrence," Ali Maqari, the head of Tehran University's College of Science, told the Mehr News Web site, hinting that academics would be paying special attention the investigation.

[zara]

I dunno, theres thousands of greens they could have assassinated... why him?

Doesn't really make any sense.

[Bigfella]

I dunno, theres thousands of greens they could have assassinated... why him?

Doesn't really make any sense.

There's also the whole thing with the elaborate method - if the government wanted to put the scare on the opposition or the University, just drag the guy out of class & dump the body in public the next day.

There is something going on here that is not yet apparent.

[S2]

"why him?"

Compared to a nameless student not found on any publically declared statement of support by Tehran University professors for Mousavi?

Nailed a nuke physicist. That sends a message within their program even if he wasn't directly involved. It's a good bet that any number of those scientists that ARE involved know him.

Nailed a prominent supporter of Mousavi. That sends a message to anybody of elevated profile who might consider similar support.

Now. Let me ask YOU a question- who do you think is more likely to have killed him-America and Israel or the IRGC?

[zara]

"why him?"


Now. Let me ask YOU a question- who do you think is more likely to have killed him-America and Israel or the IRGC?

Certainly not America. Not your style.

Cant see why Israel would target him - others in the program maybe but not him.

The republican guard.. maybe, but I fail to see what they gained seeing they're blaming it on Israel anyway.

I think BigFellas right in saying that theres more going on here.

[astralis]

BF,

if the government wanted to put the scare on the opposition or the University, just drag the guy out of class & dump the body in public the next day.

that might be too robust-- spark a wave of rioting across the country, especially once it was clear he was a fervent Green.

this way keeps the opposition guessing. no big mobilization.

[Aryajet]

I don't know!! barbaric republic has assassinated 1000s inside and outside of Iran. But all had been accomplished by 3 distinctive methods:
1- 1 or more gunmen with different type of support apparatus and personnel approach the victim and discharged their weapon (they used machine gun in Austria) and disappear.

2- Victims get kidnapped/disappeared and few days later their corpses will be found under a bridge in a secluded roadside.

3- In few assassinations where gunshot noise have been a concern like Frouhar family (housbad & wife) and former Premier Bakhtyar in France they've also used knives and daggers.

But roadside bombing is new, at the other hand change of tactic or pattern by this monstrous regime should not be considered unusual at all.