Gunmen on a motorcycle shot physicist Dariush Rezai outside his home near a military base, an Iranian news agency reports. He’s the latest victim in a series of attacks on nuclear scientists in Iran, which is suspected of trying to build a nuclear weapons program.
Reporting from Beirut— An Iranian nuclear scientist tied to the country’s controversial atomic research program was shot dead Saturday on a street in Tehran, Iranian news outlets reported.
It was the latest in a series of attacks targeting the country’s nuclear scientists
The victim, Dariush Rezai, 45, was described by the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency as a professional associated with the country’s Atomic Energy Organization, which oversees the country’s complex of nuclear installations, including uranium enrichment facilities that produce fuel for energy reactors.
U.S. and Israeli officials, as well as many Western diplomats and nonproliferation experts, believe Iran is using the cover of a domestic energy program to assemble the building blocks for an eventual weapons program.
Rezai, who reportedly held a doctorate in physics, was reportedly shot by gunmen on a motorcycle outside his home in the southeast of the capital, Tehran, according to the semi-official Mehr News Agency. >>>