Israel’s military said Saturday it killed nine senior Iranian nuclear scientists in a series of coordinated airstrikes on Tehran early Friday, describing the operation as a significant blow to Iran’s ability to develop weapons of mass destruction.
The strikes, part of the opening salvo of Operation Rising Lion, were carried out by Israeli Air Force fighter jets based on intelligence gathered by the IDF’s Intelligence Directorate. Dozens of targets were struck across Iran in the large-scale operation.
“All of the eliminated scientists and experts served as significant knowledge centers in the Iranian nuclear project and possessed decades of accumulated experience in the development of nuclear weapons,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
The IDF identified the nine as:
- Fereydoun Abbasi – expert in nuclear engineering
- Mohammad Mahdi Tehranshi – physics expert
- Akbar Motalebi Zadeh – expert in chemical engineering
- Saeed Barji – materials engineering expert
- Amir Hassan Fakhahi – physics expert
- Abd al-Hamid Minoushehr – expert in reactor physics
- Mansour Asgari – physics expert
- Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari Daryani – expert in nuclear engineering
- Ali Bakhouei Katirimi – expert in mechanics
According to the military, the individuals were central to the progress of the Iranian regime’s nuclear weapons program.
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“Their elimination represents a significant blow to the Iranian regime’s ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction,” the statement said.
There was no immediate response from Iranian officials, and state media had not confirmed the strike as of Saturday evening.