Iranian scientist killed by bomb had opposition links
An Iranian nuclear physicist with ties to the reformist movement led by the opposition leader, Mir Hossein Moussavi, has been killed by a bomb near his home.
Dr Moussad Ali-Mohammadi was leaving his house on his way to work at Tehran University when the bomb, attached to a motorbike, went off, killing him instantly.
The Iranian authorities said they suspected the hand of exiled opposition movements working on behalf of America and Israel, a charge denied by Washington.
They drew parallels with the disappearance of a scientist attached to the country’s nuclear programme while on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, who the authorities say was kidnapped and handed over to the Americans.
But Dr Ali-Mohammadi’s academic work was highly theoretical and the body responsible for the country’s nuclear research programme, which has brought Iran into conflict with the West, said he had no connection with it.
Opposition movement supporters also said he was on a list of 240 academic backers of Mr Moussavi published before last year’s disputed election. [continued…]
Editor’s Comment — It comes as little surprise that the Iranian government would be quick to accuse Israel and the US of being behind this assassination. The US is currently operating a far from covert assassination program in Pakistan and less than a year ago it was reported that Israel had launched a program specifically targeting Iran’s top nuclear scientists.
Last February, The Telegraph reported:
Israel has launched a covert war against Iran as an alternative to direct military strikes against Tehran’s nuclear programme, US intelligence sources have revealed.
It is using hitmen, sabotage, front companies and double agents to disrupt the regime’s illicit weapons project, the experts say.
The most dramatic element of the “decapitation” programme is the planned assassination of top figures involved in Iran’s atomic operations.
Israel is also widely assumed to have been behind the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, a leading member of Hezbollah, in Damascus two years ago.
Governments that sanction or instigate assassinations have a hard time pleading innocence.
So, does this mean that Mossad is the prime suspect in this case? Probably not. More likely this was instigated by the regime itself. The killing would send multiple messages:
1. The official line – foreign enemies of the state are on the lose and Iranians must stand together to face this threat.
2. Those who support the opposition are risking their lives by doing so.
3. Any Iranian nuclear scientists who might consider defection have been served notice that they might meet the same fate.
It says quite a bit about what kind of ally we have when any terrorist assassination, especially in the Free World, that favors Israeli interests invariably makes Israel suspect in the eyes of the whole world, given how, like the Soviets, it so often resorted to assassination by Mossad agents on foreign soil. Whether “terror”– random to paralyze with fear a whole population, or “targeted,” to weaken a whole population, it’s still assassination and in the Israeli case it is done on America’s dime. Is it little wonder that pro-Zionist “terrorism experts” are trying to entice the US into frequent “targeted assassinations” so that when Israel does it we’re devoid of ground from which to object?
1. The official line – foreign enemies of the state are on the lose and Iranians must stand together to face this threat.
But, alas, foreign enemies of the state are on the loose and have threatened openly to attack, destabilize the country and to assassinate nuclear scientists. So when those things actually happen, why would I overthink it?
2. Those who support the opposition are risking their lives by doing so.
Then again perhaps those foreign enemies are counting on people assuming just that. They can eliminate a key asset and blame the enemy. After all the first thing I reas was that a musavi supporter was killed on yahoo news. It’s almost as if they knew what conclusion they wanted people to make.
3. Any Iranian nuclear scientists who might consider defection have been served notice that they might meet the same fate.
So far, all scientists who ‘defected’ did so without their families. They either believed the evil regime would not harm them or….they didn’t defect at all. There would be no better way for the regime to dissuade their best and brightest from helping them than by killing scientists. Which is why I doubt they did it. ESPECIALLY when they know the scrutiny they are under now.