TEHRAN: Two top Iranian nuclear scientists and Iran’s military chief, Mohammad Bagheri, were killed in Israeli airstrikes overnight, in what appears to be a major escalation in the shadow war between Iran and Israel.
According to Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency, Bagheri was killed in one of the Israeli strikes that targeted several locations across Iran. Tasnim news agency reported that the nuclear scientists killed were Mohammad-Mehdi Tehranchi — a nuclear physicist and president of Islamic Azad University — and Fereydoun Abbasi, former head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI). Both were reportedly assassinated in separate targeted attacks.
Israel has claimed that several high-ranking military officials and nuclear experts were killed in the initial phase of its operation.
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The strikes, which hit multiple areas in and around Tehran as well as other cities, seem to be aimed at dismantling Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure. The assassination of Tehranchi and Abbasi, both key figures in Iran’s nuclear program, suggests a direct hit on the country’s scientific leadership.
So far, Iranian authorities have not issued an official response. But the killings have raised concerns of a broader regional conflict.
