Israel killed 14 Iranian nuclear scientists since June 13, sources say

At least 14 Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed in Israeli attacks since Friday, including in car bombs, two sources in the Gulf say.

The Israel Defense Force (IDF) said many of them were successors to Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the “father of the Iranian nuclear project,” who was allegedly assassinated by Israel in 2020, Caliber.Az reports, citing Israeli media.

Among the high-profile casualties were:

• Fereydoun Abbasi, a prominent nuclear engineering specialist

• Mohammad Mahdi Tehranshi, an accomplished physics expert

• Akbar Motalebi Zadeh, a chemical engineering authority

• Saeed Barji, a materials engineering expert

• Amir Hassan Fakhahi, a physicist

• Abd al-Hamid Minoushehr, known for his work in reactor physics

• Mansour Asgari, another leading physicist

• Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari Daryani, a specialist in nuclear engineering

• Ali Bakhouei Katirimi, a mechanics expert

The targeted killings underscore the operation’s strategic intent: to decapitate Iran’s nuclear knowledge base and disrupt its capability to build a nuclear weapon. The Israeli government has long accused Tehran of concealing weapons-grade enrichment under the guise of a civilian program — a claim Iran denies.

By Khagan Isayev