Washington Post  |  January 11, 2012

Iranian Scientist Involved In Nuclear Program Killed In Tehran Bomb Attack

By Thomas Erdbrink

Iranian security forces inspect the site where a magnetic bomb attached to a car by a
motorcyclist exploded outside a university in Tehran on Wednesday, killing a scientist and
injuring two other people, according to Iranian news agencies. Sajad Safari/AFP/Getty Images

TEHRAN — An Iranian scientist involved in purchasing equipment for the Islamic Republic's main uranium-enrichment facility was assassinated Wednesday when a magnetic bomb attached to his car exploded in morning rush-hour traffic, Iranian media reported.

Iranian officials accused the United States and Israel of orchestrating the attack, which also killed the scientist's driver.

Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi blamed the attack on "Zionists" and "those who claim they are against terrorism," the semiofficial Fars News Agency reported.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was more explicit. "These actions are being committed by the Zionist regime and its agents with the support of several European countries and especially U.S. officials," the semiofficial Iranian Students' News Agency quoted him as saying.

The killing bore strong resemblance to two 2010 attacks on nuclear scientists and came on the same day as a ceremony for the third anniversary of the killing of another professor, Massoud Ali Mohammadi, who also died in an explosion.

Iranian authorities likewise blamed the United States and its allies for the previous killings of scientists, saying they were part of a covert program aimed at disrupting Iran's nuclear research.

Fars, which has close ties to the Revolutionary Guard Corps that is tasked with protecting scientists, identified the slain professor as Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, 32, a chemical engineer. The agency described Ahmadi-Roshan as a chemical engineer who served as deputy director of the Natanz uranium-enrichment facility and as the assistant to the head of procurement there.

Reacting to the killing, members of Iran's parliament shouted, "Death to America!" and pumped their fists in the air in a show of defiance. Parliament's national security and foreign policy committee called an emergency session to debate a response to the "terrorist act," the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

One analyst who supports Iran leaders said it was time for Iran to strike back. "From now on, the reciprocation is internationally acceptable and legitimate," said Mehdi Mohammadi, an international affairs analyst who regularly appears on state television. "Iran is for sure able to enter a new phase of confrontation," he told the Asriran Web site.

"It is very clear that it had been planned and was arranged by the intelligence services of the U.S., U.K. and Saudi Arabia," Mohammadi said. "Iran definitely will punish the agents of this terrorism action."

Several officials linked the assassination to parliamentary elections scheduled for March 2, charging that the West is attempting to "provoke riots" ahead of the vote.

"This was a magnetic bomb, like the ones used in previous assassinations," Safar Ali Baratloo, Tehran's deputy governor, told Fars. "It is the Zionists' job. They want to reduce the turnout in the upcoming elections."

Fars said an assailant riding a motorcycle attached the bomb to Ahmadi-Roshan's car. It also said the assassination had been caught on traffic control cameras. Another news Web site, Alef, said witnesses heard gunshots right before the explosion.

Original article here.