Iran sends surviving nuclear scientists into hiding after 14 killed in Israeli strikes, report says
Iran has sent its remaining nuclear scientists deep into hiding after the 12-day conflict in June that saw at least 14 killed by Israeli strikes, according to a new report.
The more than 15 top scientists who survived the attack have left their homes and universities to hide in secure locations in Tehran or along the northern coast, a senior Iranian official told The Telegraph.
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But Israeli experts warned that whoever stands poised to inherit the work of the slain scientists — no matter where they choose to hide — are already “dead men walking,” according to the UK outlet.
“Those who are left will be at the forefront of any Iranian attempt to reach a nuclear bomb, hence they will automatically become targets for Israel as Israel has shown in the past,” said Danny Citrinowicz, the former head of the Iranian strategic desk in Israeli Defense Intelligence agency.
“I have no doubt about it. Any scientist that deals with the nuclear issue will be eliminated or will be threatened with elimination,” he said.
Israel has allegedly put together a total list of about 100 Iranian scientists who may be future targets to halt Tehran’s nuclear ambition, according to the Telegraph.
At least 14 of Tehran’s top atomic experts were killed during Iran’s 12-day war with Israel for their alleged personal role in developing highly enriched uranium, which the Jewish state maintains would be used for a nuclear weapon.
Among them were Fereidoun Abbasi, a former head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, head of the Islamic Azad University in Tehran.
The deadly strikes prompted Tehran to issue the new security measures for its surviving leading scientists, the Iranian official told The Telegraph. Iran also has reportedly replaced its atomic experts teaching in colleges “with people who have no connection with the nuclear program.”
Universities where some of the targets worked were hit and damaged by Israeli airstrikes during the war.
The report of Tehran’s efforts to bolster security for its scientists comes just days after Iran convicted and executed Rouzbeh Vadi, a reactor engineer accused of spying for Israel and helping facilitate the attack on his colleagues.
Iran has undertaken a massive espionage crackdown after the war, arresting hundreds of people across the country and expelling more than a million Afghani refugees branded as possible spies for Israel.
Hostage Air Worldwide, a nonprofit that works to help political captives and their families, said that at least four Iranian-Americans are among the hundreds detained in the espionage raids.
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