The Australian:
A BOMBING attack on two Iranian nuclear experts, killing one, may have been a government hit designed to prevent the release of secrets, analysts claim.
As Iran openly blamed Israel and the US for the attack on Monday night (AEDT) on Majid Shahriari and Fereydoon Abbasi, the connection between the victims has raised fears that a hit squad is targeting Iranian nuclear experts.
The two scientists were attacked while they were on their way to work by men on motorcycles who had attached bombs to their cars in different parts of Tehran.
Shahriari was killed instantly. Three others, including the men's wives and a driver, were also injured.
"There must be a lot of nuclear scientists in Iran getting very worried right now," Ali Ansari, the director of the Iranian institute at the University of St Andrews, said.
...
Meir Javedanfar, an expert on Iran at the Middle East Economic and Political Analysis Company, said it was possible that a Western intelligence agency had attacked the scientists but it was just as feasible that the regime could have carried out the attacks.
"After the 2009 elections the brutal crackdown swelled the ranks of the democracy movement among the people and among officials, and that includes members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Council. They've had to purge hundreds from among their own ranks," he said.
He added that if the men had covertly joined the reform movement, the regime could have attacked them to prevent them from leaking secrets and to send a message to other scientists.
"Iran already has the biggest brain drain in the world, according to the UN, and nuclear physicists getting blown up in their cars in Tehran is not going to help it," Mr Javedanfar said.
...
It must be convenient to have the Zionist as a scapegoat for all your troubles. But elevating Israel to that level brings its own difficulties like trying to explain to the people why you can't protect your scientist from such a small country.
Image via Wikipedia
Comments
Post a Comment