Assassination Within Two Feet from the Ministry of Intelligence

A manager at a key nuclear site which is part of Iran’s controversial nuclear program in Natanz was assassinated earlier this week on the very same street that houses the headquarters of the country’s all invasive Intelligence Ministry. Official news sites presented Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan to be a trade deputy at a nuclear enrichment plant in Nataz, in the province of Isfahan.

This is an important nuclear site in Iran’s nuclear program that has been widely present in the international media coverage of Iran because of its enrichment activities that have been questioned by international agencies and governments.

Tehran has been asserting that top secret information about the country’s nuclear program including names of some of its scientists and managers in the nuclear projects has been leaked by international organizations, such as the IAEA and thus being involved in the recent assassinations. It also accused the US and Israel of being behind the assassinations.

After this week’s assassination of Roshan, Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported that the scientist had been recently interviewed by IAEA inspectors. According to the report by this news source, the presence of the names of some of Iran’s players in the nuclear program on the UN Security Council blacklist and IAEA documents, along with the recent interview of Roshan by IAEA inspectors, increases the likelihood of some form of IAEA involvement in the attack or information leak.

This view comes despite the strong denouncement by the American and British governments of the assassination and denials of any involvement in the explosion that killed the scientist.

Israel is the only government that had earlier declared that it had the assassination of scientists and members of Iran’s nuclear program on its agenda as a way to prevent the Islamic republic from acquiring nuclear weapons. Still, it has not taken responsibility for any of the assassinations that have shaken Iran.

Fingers Point to IAEA and Israel

Prior to this incident, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) had announced that they would be taking up the responsibility of protecting the members of the country’s nuclear program, which was subsequently approved by the Majlis.

In a letter to IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano, Iran’s representative at the nuclear watchdog Ali Asqar Soltanieh wrote that by “publishing the names of Iranian scientists and experts, the agency had placed these individuals at risk of being assassinated and at the disposal of spy agencies of Israel and the United States.”

He further said, “The names of Iranian nuclear scientists and specialists who had engaged in committed cooperation with the IAEA were leaked outside and were placed on the illegal list of EU sanctions and the UN Security Council.”

By saying that these lists were the source of foreign intelligence agencies in the latter’s plans to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists, Soltanieh added, “The international community has witnessed the new ugly phenomena of assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists and specialists by terrorist groups supported by the US and Israel.”

The spokesperson for Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and Foreign Policy at the Majlis Kazem Jalali echoed similar words when he said that the assassinations indicated that the information that the Islamic republic provides to international agencies is provided to “enemies.” “While organizations like the IAEA should be trusted places for nations, why are the secrets of nations and governments put at the disposal of terrorists,” he asked. He said the IAEA should not have released the names of individuals associated with Iran’s nuclear program.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s first deputy, Mohammad-Reza Rahimi, attributed the assassinations to Israel. Speaking after a cabinet session, he said, “This terrorist act took place by agents of the Zionist regime (a reference to Israel) and those who claim to be fighting terrorism, whereas in fact they have taken up a fight against humanity and decent aspects of humans as a way to eliminate scientists from providing their service to humanity.”

Ramin Mehmanparast, the foreign ministry spokesperson also condemned the assassination of Roshan. “We shall pursue these inhuman practices and complain to the relevant organizations and authorities,” he said. He further said that the silence by Western countries and supporters of Israel over the physical elimination of Iranian nuclear scientists can mean their indirect alignment or Israel’s sense of confidence that there would be no serious response by other countries over such terrorist actions.

Domestic media reported that a bystander who was injured in explosion that killed Roshan died in hospital.

According to Iran’s official news agency IRNA, Roshan was a member of Sharif University student Basij (Iran’s official militia organized under the IRGC) who had graduated in chemical engineering in 2001. The agency also reported that during a Majlis session, MPs chanted death to the US, death to Israel and death to hypocrites (a word Iranian officials use for the Mujahedin Khalq Organization). In a speech on the floor, Shahabedin Sadr, the second Majlis Speaker deputy said “World Arrogance” (a term the Iranian regime uses for the United States) was behind the assassination. This is despite US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s express denial of any US involvement in the assassination. In her statement on the subject she also reiterated the concern of the international community over Iran’s nuclear activities. Tommy Vietor, the spokesperson for the US National Security Council also condemned the attack and said the US had “absolutely nothing to do” with it. Britain also issued a statement condemning the assassination on Roshan.

The assassination of Roshan brings the number of people involved in Iran’s nuclear program who have been killed in Tehran to three. In January 2010 Masoud Ali Mohammadi, a physics university professor and a researcher in the nuclear program was killed in a similar attack in Tehran. The assassination of Roshan took place exactly on the second anniversary of Mohammadi’s attack. The other attack took place in November of 201 when Majid Shahriyari, also a physics university professor at Beheshti University was assassinated in Tehran near the school. Fereidoon Abbasi Davani, another physics professor from the same university was also attacked on the same day, but has survived the explosion. The Islamic regime has blamed Western countries, particularly the United States and Israel for these attacks.

This last attack took place on the corner of a row of buildings belonging to the headquarters of the ministry of intelligence of Iran but the motor bikers who carried out the attack, according to Iran’s official accounts, managed to flee the scene after the explosion.