Reza H. Akbari
According to Iranian officials, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, an Iranian nuclear scientist, was assassinated in Tehran on Wednesday, the latest in a series of assassinations linked by Iranian authorities to a Western covert plot to stop the Islamic Republic from its nuclear ambitions.
Based on reports by the Iranian media, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan was killed due the explosion of a bomb near Seyed Khandan, a neighborhood in northern Tehran. According to Fars News, a semiofficial news agency close to the IRGC, Roshan was the Commerce Deputy Director of the Natanz enrichment facility and a professor at the Sharif University, Iran’s leading university in technology, engineering and physical sciences.
According to Fars News, a magnetic bomb was planted under the car of Ahmadi Roshan by an unknown motorcyclist. Iranian officials are blaming Israel and Mojahedin khalq Organization (MKO) for the attack. Mohammd Reza Rahimi, Iran’s first vice-president labeled the event as “state terrorism.”
According to Fars News, a few hours ago Reza Qashqayee, the driver of the assassinated professor who was severely injured in the blast died from his wounds in the hospital. The third victim of the explosion is a wounded pedestrian who has been transferred to a hospital.
Iranian officials seem persistent to continue their nuclear ambitions despite the most recent assassination of their leading nuclear scientists. According to Fars News, addressing a parliament session on Wednesday, vice-speaker of the parliament, Seyed Shahabeddin Sadr, mentioned that terrorist attacks on the lives of Iranian scientists are aimed at stopping Iran’s progress.
“The enemy assumes that it can hinder the Islamic Republic’s move towards progress and growth through such actions, but the experience gained as a result of the enemy’s blind assassination attempts over the last 30 years shows that these assassinations will not influence our nations,” he said. Sadr also warned that such terrorist attacks may backfire because they result in the Iranian nation’s stronger solidarity and determination.
The blast took place on the second anniversary of the assassination of university professor and nuclear scientist, Massoud Ali Mohammadi, who was killed in a similar fashion in January 2010.