Iran accuses Israel and US of assassinating scientist
Iran’s parliamentary speaker has accused Israel and the United States of assassinating a scientist with possible links to the country’s nuclear programme. Darioush Rezainejad’s death at the hands of motorcycle-riding gunmen prompted speculation that a violent and covert campaign to slow Iran’s development of nuclear materials was again underway.
The 35-year old scientist was shot dead outside a kindergarten in east Tehran where he had gone to pick up his daughter. Mr Rezainejad’s wife was wounded in the attack before the motorcyclists sped away.
The method of execution bore similarities to a spate of killings and attempted killings of Iranian nuclear scientists last year that involved assassins on motorcycles. Ali Larijani, the hawkish speaker of the Iranian parliament, was quick to apportion blame. “The American-Zionist terrorist attack yesterday against one of the country’s scientists is yet another sign of the Americans’ degree of animosity,” he told MPs.
