Assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists
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Since 2010, multiple Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed in foreign-linked assassinations. Five were killed from 2010 to 2020 by car bombings or shootings. Fereydoon Abbasi was among the scientists who survived an assassination attempt in 2010, an assassination that killed another nuclear scientist, Majid Shahriari. Finally, Abbasi was killed on 13 June 2025 during Israeli strikes on the Iranian nuclear program.
Other notable scientists killed in the Israeli airstrikes include Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, Abdolhamid Minouchehr, Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari, Amir Hassan Fakhahi, Akbar Motallebzadeh, Ali Bahuei Katirimi, Mansour Asgari, and Saeed Borji.
The Iranian government accused Israel of complicity in the killings in order to disrupt Iran's nuclear program. In 2011 and 2012, Iranian authorities arrested a number of Iranians alleged to have carried out the assassination campaign on behalf of Mossad (the Israeli intelligence service). Western intelligence services and U.S. officials reportedly confirmed the Israeli connection. Israel neither confirmed nor denied its role in the assassinations. Israeli defense minister Moshe Ya'alon said: "We will act in any way and are not willing to tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran. We prefer that this be done by means of sanctions, but in the end, Israel should be able to defend itself." The assassination campaign was reportedly terminated in 2013 following diplomatic pressure from the United States, which was attempting to negotiate restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities.