Bomb kills Iran's nuke physicist near home
Source: Agencies |
January 13, 2010, Wednesday
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A NUCLEAR physics professor who publicly backed Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in the disputed June presidential election was killed yesterday when a remote-controlled bomb rigged to a motorcycle blew up outside his home.
State media identified the victim as Masoud Ali Mohammadi, 50, a professor at Tehran University, which has been at the center of recent protests by student opposition supporters. Before the election, pro-reform Websites published Ali Mohammadi's name among a list of 240 Tehran University teachers who supported Mousavi.
The government blamed the bombing on an armed Iranian opposition group that it said operated under the direction of Israel and the United States. Iran often accuses both countries of meddling in its affairs - both when it comes to post-election unrest and its nuclear program.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner denied the charge. "Any charges of US involvement are absurd," he said.
Ali Mohammadi had just left his house on his way to work when the remote-controlled explosion went off, state TV said. The blast shattered the windows of his home in northern Tehran's Qeytariyeh neighborhood and left the pavement outside smeared with blood and strewn with debris. The semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi as confirming the killing and saying no one has been arrested.
Ali Mohammadi, who wrote several articles on quantum and theoretical physics in scientific journals, was not a well-known figure in Iran.
He was also not an outspoken or visible supporter of Iran's opposition movement during the months of turmoil that have followed the election, though his name did appear on the list of professors who backed Mousavi before the vote. That list was published on several pro-reform Websites in the weeks leading up to the vote.
The semiofficial Mehr news agency quoted a Tehran University official as saying Ali Mohammadi was not involved in any political activity.
"The prominent professor was not a political figure and had no activity in the field of politics," Mehr quoted Ali Moqari, head of the university's science department, as saying.
A spokesman for Iran's atomic agency, Ali Shirzadian, said that Ali Mohammadi had no link with the agency.
"He was not involved in the country's nuclear program," Shirzadian said, adding that the professor was active only in the theoretical field at Tehran University.
State media identified the victim as Masoud Ali Mohammadi, 50, a professor at Tehran University, which has been at the center of recent protests by student opposition supporters. Before the election, pro-reform Websites published Ali Mohammadi's name among a list of 240 Tehran University teachers who supported Mousavi.
The government blamed the bombing on an armed Iranian opposition group that it said operated under the direction of Israel and the United States. Iran often accuses both countries of meddling in its affairs - both when it comes to post-election unrest and its nuclear program.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner denied the charge. "Any charges of US involvement are absurd," he said.
Ali Mohammadi had just left his house on his way to work when the remote-controlled explosion went off, state TV said. The blast shattered the windows of his home in northern Tehran's Qeytariyeh neighborhood and left the pavement outside smeared with blood and strewn with debris. The semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi as confirming the killing and saying no one has been arrested.
Ali Mohammadi, who wrote several articles on quantum and theoretical physics in scientific journals, was not a well-known figure in Iran.
He was also not an outspoken or visible supporter of Iran's opposition movement during the months of turmoil that have followed the election, though his name did appear on the list of professors who backed Mousavi before the vote. That list was published on several pro-reform Websites in the weeks leading up to the vote.
The semiofficial Mehr news agency quoted a Tehran University official as saying Ali Mohammadi was not involved in any political activity.
"The prominent professor was not a political figure and had no activity in the field of politics," Mehr quoted Ali Moqari, head of the university's science department, as saying.
A spokesman for Iran's atomic agency, Ali Shirzadian, said that Ali Mohammadi had no link with the agency.
"He was not involved in the country's nuclear program," Shirzadian said, adding that the professor was active only in the theoretical field at Tehran University.
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