New Delhi: The Israeli military Saturday said that its air force killed nine Iranian scientists involved in Tehran’s nuclear weapons programme, a day after it launched ‘Operation Rising Lion,’ striking key nuclear facilities and military personnel in Iran.
“All of the eliminated scientists and experts were key figures in the development of Iranian nuclear weapons,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement posted on social media platform X.
The IDF identified the nine as Fereydoon Abbasi, an expert in nuclear engineering, Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi (physics), Akbar Motalebi Zadeh (chemical engineering), Saeed Barji (materials engineering), Amir Hassan Fakhahi (physics) Abd al-Hamid Minoushehr (reactor physics), Mansour Asgari (physics), Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari Daryani (nuclear engineering), and Ali Bakhouei Katirimi (mechanics), according to report in The Times of Israel.
“Their elimination is a significant blow to the regime’s ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction,” it further said on X.
On Friday, Israeli strikes, conducted using drones and warplanes, hit Iran’s biggest nuclear facilities in Natanz. Israel also claimed it had hit sites in Fordo and Isfahan. However, while Iranian authorities denied the two facilities had been impacted, the International Atomic Energy Agency Saturday said the Isfahan facility was targeted “several times” on 13 June.
Iran have admitted that the strikes killed senior military leaders, including Iranian armed forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri and the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Major General Hossein Salami.
On Saturday, Iranian media reports confirmed that three scientists, Ali Bakaei Karimi, Mansour Asgari, and Saeid Borji, had been killed. Additionally, two prominent nuclear scientists—Mohammad Mahdi Tehranchi and Fereydoon Abbasi—were also reported among the dead.
On Friday, Israel said its operation had just begun and would last at least two weeks. It came a day after Iran agreed to hold a sixth round of talks with the US on limiting its nuclear programme. Iran has since cancelled talks, earlier scheduled for Sunday, and launched its retaliation.
In 2018, the US, during Donald Trump’s first term, walked out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the agreement signed between Tehran and Western powers to limit its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. Since then, the IAEA has warned that Iran has been enriching uranium beyond civilian use, close to weapons-grade levels.
Beginning late Friday night, Iran launched ‘Operation True Promise 3’, firing hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel. Israel has also retaliated.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz issued a sharp warning to Tehran on Saturday, vowing a forceful response if the attacks continue. “Tehran will burn,” Katz said, addressing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Speaking alongside IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and Mossad Director David Barnea, during a security briefing, Katz added, “The Iranian dictator is taking the citizens of Iran hostage. Tehran’s residents will pay a heavy price for the criminal attack on Israeli civilians.”
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)