Iran Nuclear Scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh: The Mossad Target

How Iranian nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh built Iran's secret weapons program and became Israel's most wanted target. The story behind his 2020 Mossad assassination and lasting nuclear legacy.

WARNING: Graphic Content

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh: “Remember that Name”

In a quiet village, on the outskirts of Tehran, a Nissan pickup hid the most sophisticated assassination device the Mossad ever deployed. The Target? A man the West called Iran’s Oppenheimer, Moshen Fakhrizadeh. Who was Fakhrizadey, and why did his name instill fear into Washington and Israel’s war rooms?

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was a highly influential Iranian nuclear physicist and one of the most dangerous, enigmatic figures in modern geopolitics. Born in the early 1960s in a devout Shia family, Fakhrizadeh came of age during the 1979 Iranian Revolution. After the overthrow of the Imperial governor in Qom, Iran’s Imperial government, and the establishment of the Islamic Republic, Fakhrizadeh joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a brigadier general and head of the Office of Defensive Innovation and Research. However, the development of Iran's nuclear program cannot solely be credited to him; his predecessor, Akbar Etemad, the father of Iran's nuclear efforts, was fundamental to its current geopolitical stability. By straddling Iran’s military and academic worlds, Fakhrizadeh fused civilian science with military ambition. Creating a ticking time bomb at the heart of Iran’s nuclear program.

1979 Iranian Revolution Screenshot YouTube

Fakhrizadeh was regarded by Israeli intelligence agencies and the Western world as the mastermind behind Iran's decade-long creation of its nuclear program. Heading the “Amad” project, Iran’s alleged covert program. Producing the research for Iran’s modern-day nuclear program. Later, paving the way for the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), the merging of Iran’s nuclear program with military application was achieved. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly warned the Western world of Fakhrizadeh’s work. In a 2018 public statement, Netanyahu implored the world to global world to “remember the name,” highlighting Iran’s nuclear progression under the lead of Fakhrizadeh. In 2014, The New York Times stated that “Mohsen Fakhrizadeh is considered by Western Intelligence officials to be the closest thing Iran has to J. Robert Oppenheimer…”.

Stealth and Strategy

The real story of Fakhrizadeh lies in how he built Iran’s nuclear program to withstand not just economic sanctions, but to withstand military attacks. To achieve this, he developed an intricate network that was dispersed and concealed. Using Iranian universities, public fronts, to conceal their research and development of their nuclear program. Masking its true military objectives from Western geopolitical powers using hidden laboratories and civilian research teams located in Iranian universities. This method was a front. To covertly conduct undetectable research and development projects by Western geopolitical powers. Through the use of compartmentalized teams, he was able to disperse the programs into highly compartmentalized groups. Making his nuclear development harder to trace. It appears that an internal motivation of Fakhrizadeh was his dedication to Iran’s Supreme Leader. Through combining both his passions for science and Iran’s political government, he was able to merge both politics and nuclear capabilities.

Father of Iran’s Nuclear Program

Iran’s nuclear ambitions did happen overnight. Akbar Etemad, the true founding “father” of Iran’s nuclear program and its foundations, which Fakhrizadeh would build off of. The program would allow Iran to create its own nuclear energy, as well as to evolve into a weapons project if Iran’s future security needs demanded. Between 1974-1978, Etemad built the internal structure for Iran's nuclear success, the grounds on which to expand Iran's nuclear power, if needed. Etemad’s mission, to use civilian power to make it possible to build nuclear weapons as well. Etemad's success led him to head the first Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Paving the way for the creation of nuclear weapons. Before 1979, Etemad received a phone call from Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. To devise a plan for this to work, the Shah and Etemad agreed: Provide Iran with future nuclear energy for a growing Iranian economy

1. Provide Iran with future nuclear energy for a growing Iranian economy

2. Leave the door open for the potential nuclear weapons capability if the region's security balance were to shift. Keep in mind, this was before the IRGC took over.

3. As Akbar Etemad recounted in a 2014 interview, the Sha’h’s vision was always two-pronged: energy for today, weapons for when the balance shifted.

   Akbar Etemad recalls his conversation with the Shah that had initiated Iran's Nuclear program.

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Akbar Etemad

Father of Iran's Nuclear Program

"The idea was that, if today Iran can sell oil and has oil, it needs to invest that money, so that some of the oil would be left for future generations. Nuclear energy was a good way to invest because it takes 20 to 30 years to pay off. You start to invest in it, and then after that time, it starts to show results."

"But ... I wasn't sure if [the Shah] wanted energy only, or weapons too. So, I spoke to him and asked him what he wanted. I said: 'I'll explain everything to you, and at the end, you can tell me what you want.'"

"For six months, I taught him everything from the atom to reactors and nuclear weapons. Then, after six months, I said, 'Now that you know everything, what do you want me to do?' ... Then we spoke for two hours, about politics and the military."

The Shah's Response:

"Today, we are a great regional power; we don't need anything. But if the balance [of power] changes in the region, if other countries get nuclear weapons, we need to have the capability for it."

Etemad: "Would nuclear weapons be an option then?"

The Shah (in English): "Why not?"

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Source: Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy

Iran Nuclear Program Report (PDF)

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Akbar Etmad; Screen Shot

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Unlike Akbar Etemad, Fakrizahdeh took the bull by the horns and forged Iran's Nuclear program to the next level. Fakrizahdeh took advantage of his political power. Something Etemad was not in the privileged position to do. Fakhrizadeh’s dual identity separated him from the work of Etemad, and Fakhrizadeh spread his wings and flew with the backing of the supreme leader. With his trust in the Supreme Leader, Fakhrizadeh was able to compartmentalize nuclear development, gaining access to international resources needed to build atomic bombs, under the shadows of military secrecy. Fakhrizadeh’s influence built redundancy, decentralization to create a survivable infrastructure for Iran's nuclear program.

With his trust in the Supreme Leader, Fakhrizadeh was able to compartmentalize nuclear development, gaining access to international resources needed to build atomic bombs, under the shadows of military secrecy. Fakhrizadeh’s influence built redundancy, decentralization to create a survivable infrastructure for Iran’s nuclear program.

Nuclear Secrets: Iran's Weapons Program Timeline

Physics Research Center (PHRC)

Status: Nuclear weapon research conducted

Significance: Iran's main nuclear research facility established

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh Takes Control

Leadership: Fakhrizadeh becomes program coordinator

Impact: Unified military and civilian nuclear research

The AMAD Project Foundation

Objective: Five nuclear weapons in missile form

Outcome: Shut down in 2003 due to international pressure

Classification: Covert weapons development program

"Green Salt Project"

Purpose: Mine lower-quality uranium for weapons

Process: Uranium metal production for nuclear weapons

Status: Parallel operation to AMAD

"Orchid Office" Management

Allegation: Administrative hub for AMAD project

Iran's Position: Denies office existence

Intelligence Assessment: Coordinated weapons research

Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND)

Founder: Mohsen Fakhrizadeh

Location: Near Malek Ashtar University, Tehran (Mojeh)

Strategy: Reorganized to hide R&D from Western powers

Ministry Integration Under Khamenei

Authority: Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei operations

Integration: SPND (SEPAND) joins MODAFL

MODAFL: Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics

Source: Institute for Science and International Security

Programs Identified

6

Timeline Span

30+ Years

Key Leader

Fakhrizadeh

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Assassination: Advanced High-Tech Operation

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated by Israel’s Mossad on November 27, 2020. Like a scene from a Hollywood script, his assignation was meticulously planned and carried out with precision. Using “a modified Belgian-made FN MAG machine gun attached to an advanced robotic apparatus and powered with artificial intelligence technology. The whole device weighed about a ton and was smuggled into Iran in small parts ahead of the operation and then reassembled”, according to the Times of Israel. “The Machine gun was mounted on a Nissan Pickup and ‘focused only on martyr Fakhrizadeh’s face in a way that his wire, despite being only 25 centimeters away, was not shot,” according to CBS News. According to multiple sources, his body was strewn with bullets, and his wife was left unharmed.

The Assassination: November 27, 2020

Departure from Nuclear Facility

Fakhrizadeh leaves Iran's Abs nuclear research facility near Tehran for his weekend home in Absard

Abs Nuclear Facility, Tehran Province

Highway Travel

Security convoy travels northeast on Highway 77 toward the mountainous Absard region

Highway 77, en route to Absard

Ambush Initiated

AI-controlled Belgian FN MAG machine gun opens fire from concealed Nissan pickup truck. Thirteen bullets strike target with surgical precision while wife remains unharmed just 25 centimeters away

Highway 77, Absard approach

Evidence Destruction

Remote-controlled weapon system self-destructs, eliminating physical evidence and operational traces

Attack site, Highway 77

Death Confirmed

Iran's most influential nuclear scientist pronounced dead at regional medical facility

Local hospital, Absard

Weapon System

• Modified Belgian FN MAG machine gun
• Artificial intelligence targeting system
• One-ton total apparatus weight
• Smuggled in components, assembled on-site

Operational Precision

• Thirteen rounds fired total
• Target eliminated, no collateral damage
• Wife unharmed at 25-centimeter distance
• Complete evidence destruction

Strategic Impact

• Iran's nuclear program leadership decapitated
• No Israeli operatives on Iranian soil
• Remote operation from outside Iran
• Technological superiority demonstrated

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Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed on November 27, 2020, outside of Tehran in the city of Absard. Photo released by Farrs News Agency

Reflections and Consequences

Who was the man whose killing required such resources and technology, one that the West felt it best that an assassination would slow Iran's nuclear program? In the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, Iran would not allow foreign shipments of the COVID-19 vaccinations into Iran. Instead, it claims to use nuclear facilities, or so it claims, to produce and utilize them for sterilization measures. Even naming one of Iran’s domestically developed vaccinations after Fakhrizadeh.

COVID Research Fueled Iran's Nuclear Program

Irans development of COVID-19 vaccines is seen by some analysts as a cover to channel resources towards its nuclear program. Projects administered by Iran’s government organizations offered opportunities to increase their nuclear budget through “health spending.” According to The Washington Institute, SPND’s funding rose more than fivefold from 2016 to 2021, both for public budget allocation and specific expenditures”. The budget increase was not the only element in question.

An example of the overlap can be found when examining the “Noora” vaccine. Developed at the Baqiyatallah University, and affiliated with the IRGC, and the Defense Ministry’s “Fakhra” vaccine, named after Fakhrizadeh. According to Iran Wire, “Noora Caccine, developed by Baqiyatallah University of Medical sciences, and affiliate of the IRGC,…followed the green lighting of Defense Ministry’s Fakhra Caccine, named after assassinated nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.” FAKHRAVAC, developed by the SPND, and the CovIran-Barekat, developed by the Mossad, which was under the direct authority of the Supreme Leader Khamenei at the time.

Screen Shot YouTube Iran Documentary

During the pandemic, Iranian authorities, including Ali Akbar Salehi, claimed “the agency is using gamma rays to disinfect masks, gloves and other medical equipment, and those gamma rays can only be produced in nuclear reactors,” according to DW. This acknowledgment, demonstrated by Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, that Iran was running their nuclear facility, claiming they were being run to disinfect items needed during COVID.

Relic of the Past

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh’s name is no longer appearing in the headlines as an everyday household name. His fingerprint lingers on every centrifuge spinning deep within Iran’s underground facilities that the United States and Israel have left behind in their last bombing raid. His death did not put a stop to Iran’s nuclear ambitions; if anything, it reminded the world just how dangerous he was. Western intelligence and Israeli policymakers once warned to “remember his name”; far from a relic of the past, this warning continues to echo as Iran once again works to rebuild their nuclear program. Fakhrizadeh’s vision remains to cast a continued shadow on world peace and the expansion of Iran’s nuclear weapons program.