MARK SCHONE and MATTHEW COLE
ABC News
Sept 21, 2011
Iranian authorities are investigating the coworker of a nuclear scientist shot dead this summer for possibly leaking info about the scientist, according to the Associated Press. The dead scientist, Darioush Rezaeinejad, was the fourth scientist allegedly linked to Iran’s nuclear weapons program killed by unknown assailants in the past four years.
According to the AP, an intelligence report by a member nation of the International Atomic Energy Agency says the Iranians think a specific colleague of the murdered scientist was linked to “unreliable elements,” and might have been the source of a leak about Rezaeinejad. The IAEA report also says Rezaeinjad played a “key role” in Iran’s nuclear program, and an IAEA official told the AP that Rezaeinejad was working on a trigger for a nuclear weapon.
The story of a mole comes as the Iranian envoy to the IAEA, now holding its meeting in Vienna, told reporters that his country would not retaliate against whoever is killing its nuclear scientists. “We want not only our scientists, we want all scientists of the world to be protected,” said Iranian Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh. He said he hoped both the IAEA and the United Nations would investigate the murders.
Since 2007, four different scientists allegedly associated with the nation’s nuclear weapons program have died via bomb, gunshot or poisoning, while a fifth barely survived a car bombing. Iran has blamed the killings on Israel, the United States and Britain. The U.S. has denied any involvement, while the Israelis have declined comment.
3 Responses to “Iranians Finger Mole In Nuclear Scientist Murders”
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The first paragraph is a real mystery. It’s questionable as to who was shot until the last sentence. In fact, that paragraph is just 2 runaway sentences. dg
the worst part is that source…
(ABC)
It’s a pathetic news. A scientist is a great resource for a country.