Majid Shahriari | |
|---|---|
مجید شهریاری | |
| Born | (1966-12-07)7 December 1966 |
| Died | 29 November 2010(2010-11-29) (aged 43) |
| Cause of death | Assassination by car bomb |
| Resting place | Imamzadeh Saleh,Tehran,Tehran,Iran |
| Citizenship | Iran |
| Education | |
| Known for | Being assassinated due to his participation inIran's Uranium enrichment program |
| Spouse | Behjat Ghasemi |
| Children | 2 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Nuclear Engineering |
| Institutions | |
| Doctoral advisor | Dr. Mustafa Sohrab-Pour |
Majid Shahriari (Persian:مجید شهریاری; 7 December 1966 – 29 November 2010)[1] was a top Iraniannuclear scientist and physicist who worked with theAtomic Energy Organization of Iran. He was assassinated in Tehran in November 2010, allegedly by Israel'sMossad.
He specialized inneutron transport, a phenomenon that lies at the heart ofnuclear chain reactions inreactors andbombs. According toThe Guardian, he "had no known links to banned nuclear work".[2] According toAl Jazeera he "was a quantum physicist and was not a political figure at all" and he "was not involved in Iran's nuclear programme".[3]
He was also one of the two Iranian scientists of theInternational Centre for Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science Applications in the Middle East, besideMasoud Alimohammadi, another assassinated scientist.[4][5] Iran asserts that its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes, but a large number of Western and Israeli observers argue that Tehran's objective is to develop a nuclear bomb.[6]
According toTime magazine, Majid Shahriari and Aria Tahami were "Chief Nuclear Scientists of Iran's nuclear program".[7]
Some Iranian media reports said he taught at theSupreme National Defense University, which is run by theIranian Army, according toThe New York Times.[6]
On 29 November 2010, assassins riding motorcycles planted and detonatedexplosive device using C-4 on his car door whilst he was driving. He was instantly killed. His fellow nuclear scientistFereydoon Abbasi, a professor atShahid Beheshti University was severely wounded. Dr. Abbasi's wife was also hurt.[8] The killers had attachedbombs to the professors' cars and detonated them from a distance.[6] According to Time, this assassination had the signature of Israel's Mossad, which has carried out similar operations on foreign soil for decades.[7]This killing has led to accusations that the US and Israel were trying to interfere in Iran's nuclear program.[6]
Iranian officials have variously blamedIsrael and theUnited States for assassinating Shahriari.Saeed Jalili, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, was quoted as saying Western nations "exercise terrorism to liquidate Iran's nuclear scientists".[9]
Time magazine ran an article questioning whether this action was perpetrated byMossad (Israel's external intelligence service).[7] According toThe Daily Telegraph (UK), Israel allegedly planned to conduct covert operations against Iran,[10] including assassinations.[11]
A Tehran nuclear site was officially renamed after him after his assassination.[12]
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