Iran nuclear scientists targeted in Tehran blasts

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

Two bomb blasts in the Iranian capital Monday killed a top nuclear scientist and wounded another.

State-controlled media immediately accused the US and Israel of being behind the assassination, which came days before Iran is scheduled to discuss its nuclear program with international officials. And on Sunday a trove of US embassy cables revealed by WikiLeaks revealed that multiple Arab countries have urged the US to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, while many Western nations accuse Tehran of using the program to develop nuclear weapons.

State media reported that two bombs were attached to the cars of the scientists by unidentified men on motorcycles, then detonated from a distance, reports Agence France-Presse. The scientist killed was Majid Shahriari, a professor in the nuclear engineering department at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran. Fereydoon Abbasi, also a professor at the university who is involved in nuclear research at the Defense Ministry, was wounded.

The wives of both men and one other person were wounded in the attacks, which took place in two separate locations. The Tehran Times called the bombs “terrorist attacks.”

AFP reports that Abbasi was a member of the Revolutionary Guard and "one of the few specialists who can separate isotopes," according to a state news website.

Shahriari worked with Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency, reports The New York Times. The agency’s head said he managed one of the organization’s “major projects.” He also issued a warning to Western nations. “Don’t play with fire,” he said, according to state media. “The patience of the Iranian people has its limits. If our patience runs out, you will suffer the consequences.”

1 | 2

Next