The revolutionary court of Urmia, the capital of Iran’s West Azerbaijan province, sentenced four Iranian citizens to death for collaborating with the Israeli foreign intelligence service Mossad.
As the IRNA agency reports, we are talking about two different cases, one of which involved three people, and the second – one. Three of those convicted are allegedly involved in the assassination of nuclear physicist Hussein Fakhrizadeh.
Elimination of Fakhrizadeh. Versions
Information about the circumstances of the death of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who oversaw the work on creating the Iranian atomic bomb, is contradictory. Various Iranian officials either accused Israel of his liquidation or stated that Israel was not involved in his death.
It is reliably known that Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed on November 27, 2020 in Abasard (a suburb of Tehran).
The Iranian Fars agency wrote about this attack as follows: the car in which Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was driving drove into Abasard (a suburb of Tehran) accompanied by two security cars, suddenly fire was opened on the cars, and then a Nissan car filled with explosives exploded a few meters away from them, the explosion was so strong that it caused damage to trees and cars parked within a radius of 500 meters, then the attackers opened fire on the car in which Fakhrisade was, one of his bodyguards turned his car so as to block access to the scientist’s car, and almost immediately was killed. After the attack, Fakhrizadeh was taken to hospital, where he died soon after. The shooters fled the scene and the search for them continues.
The Israeli blogger “Abu Ali”, citing his own sources, wrote: the liquidation team consisted of 12 people, according to Iranian intelligence services, these people underwent special military training outside of Iran; about 50 more people provided logistical support for the operation; the liquidation team used a Hyundai Santa Fe jeep, a Nissan pickup (mined) and four motorcycles; electricity in the area was turned off half an hour before the active phase of the operation; Fakhrizadeh’s motorcade consisted of three cars (all armored), the scientist himself rode in the third car; the liquidators let the first security car through and opened fire on the second and third cars, shortly after which a mined Nissan pickup truck crashed into the second car of the motorcade and exploded; 12 liquidators opened fire on the first and third vehicles of the motorcade; the commander of the liquidation team pulled the wounded scientist out of the car and fired a control shot; The liquidators left the operation site (none of them were injured or detained).
Later, the Fars agency published a new version of what happened, according to which the motorcade was first fired upon from a remote-controlled automatic weapon mounted on a Nissan truck, then the truck exploded. According to Fars, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, hearing the bullets hitting the body of his car, did not understand what had happened. He decided that the strange sound was the result of a collision with an obstacle or engine failure, and got out of the car to check. At that moment he found himself under a hail of bullets. At that moment, the guard from the second car turned it so as to block access to the scientist’s car, and was almost immediately killed. Moments later, the Nissan exploded. The explosion was so strong that it caused damage to trees and cars parked within a 500-meter radius. After the attack, Fakhrizadeh was taken to hospital, where he died soon after. Fars says the incident lasted about three minutes. The attackers did not have to flee the scene because they were not there and the entire operation was carried out “remotely.”
On September 18, 2021, The New York Times published the results of its own investigation into the murder of Fakhrizadeh. According to information that the publication received from “Iranian, Israeli and American sources,” the liquidation was carried out by Israeli intelligence (Mossad) using high technology. According to the publication, a robotic machine gun was created specifically for this liquidation, similar to the Belgian FN MAG machine gun, but capable of firing 600 rounds per minute and controlled via satellite. The “computer sniper,” as the NYT calls the mechanism, weighed about a ton, so it was secretly transported in parts to Iran, where it was assembled. The mechanism was mounted on a pickup truck filled with explosives; after the operation was completed (it lasted less than a minute), the vehicle and robotic machine gun exploded. By the time the robot was activated, the team that organized the assassination attempt had already left Iran. At the same time, the article claims that such a liquidation was the “debut” of a new type of weapon used “remotely.” Particularly noteworthy is the precision with which the liquidation was carried out: Fakhrizadeh’s wife, who was first next to him in the car, and then a few meters away from him on the side of the road, was not injured.