Prominent Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, killed in an attack outside Tehran on Friday, was widely viewed outside the country as a leading figure in the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Iran denies its involvement.
Who is the scientist and what is known about him?
Western officials and experts believe Fakhrizadeh played a key role in alleged Iranian work in the past to develop the means to assemble a nuclear warhead behind the facade of a declared civil uranium enrichment program. Iran denies trying to develop a nuclear weapon.
A landmark report by the UN nuclear watchdog in 2011 identified Fakhrizadeh as a central figure in the alleged Iranian work to develop the technology and skills necessary for atomic bombs, and suggested that he may still have a role in such activity. Fakhrizadeh, believed to be a senior officer in the elite Revolutionary Guards, was the only Iranian identified in the report.
What is known of his background?
An exiled Iranian opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), issued a report in May 2011 with what it said was a photograph of Fakhrizadeh, with dark hair and a stubble. It was not possible to verify the image independently.
The NCRI said in the report that Fakhrizadeh was born in 1958 in the Shiite Muslim holy city of Qom, was vice minister of defense and brigadier general of the Revolutionary Guard, and has a doctorate in nuclear engineering and taught at Imam Hussein University of Iran. . .
What does Iran say?
The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has long wanted to meet with Fakhrizadeh as part of a protracted investigation into whether Iran carried out illicit nuclear weapons investigations. Without showing signs that it would heed the request, Iran acknowledged Fakhrizadeh’s existence several years ago, but said he was an army officer who was not involved in the nuclear program, according to a diplomatic source with knowledge of the matter.
He was also named in a 2007 UN resolution on Iran as a person involved in nuclear or ballistic missile activities.
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