An Iranian nuclear scientist responsible for developing the explosive core of a nuclear weapon was killed in an Israeli missile strike just hours before a ceasefire took effect last month, opposition-linked news outlet Iran International reported.
Mohammad Reza Sadighi, described by Iran International as “Iran’s hope for acquiring a nuclear bomb,” was targeted by three missiles less than three hours before the ceasefire began.
Sadighi, an explosives expert involved in Iran’s secret nuclear projects, survived an earlier attack on the first day of the war but was killed in the city of Astaneh Ashrafieh in Gilan province, northwest of Tehran.
The report said Sadighi was publicly presented as a researcher involved in developing an Iranian COVID-19 vaccine produced by the Defense Ministry, a cover that hid his critical role in Iran’s military nuclear program. His family was reportedly unaware of his true work. Sadighi published numerous papers in Iranian journals focused on explosives and nuclear weapons development.
Born in 1974 in Niaku village, Gilan province, Sadighi held a doctorate in nuclear engineering. He was affiliated with Tehran’s Malek Ashtar University of Technology, a Defense Ministry institution dedicated to weapons development and previously led by Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the “father of Iran’s nuclear bomb,” who was assassinated near Tehran in 2020.
Sadighi headed the Research and Technology Center for Advanced Chemical Materials as part of Iran’s nuclear explosives project. He also chaired a chemical company supplying materials for nuclear weapons. His role included computer simulations and analysis of explosive tests and his documents were reportedly exposed during a Mossad raid on Iranian nuclear archives in 2018.
Sadighi had been involved in explosives research since 1990 and was a key figure in Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s nuclear weapons program.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
On June 13, the opening day of Israel’s strike campaign, nine Iranian nuclear scientists and experts were killed. Sadighi survived that attack but lost his 17-year-old son. He went into hiding at his father-in-law’s home.
On June 23 at 1:07 a.m., Israeli forces launched three missiles targeting the residence in the final hours before the ceasefire. Witnesses said they heard a small plane and a fighter jet shortly before the strike.
The attack killed Sadighi along with 15 others, including his children, wife and her family.