Martyrdom of Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh
Last Wednesday, Hamas’ Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, the capital of Iran, where he was attending the inauguration of new President Masoud Pazeshkian. While it is still unclear how this heinous incident occurred, assassinations and attacks targeting important figures in Iran have recently come to the fore again. It is particularly striking that many important figures have lost their lives in attacks carried out by foreign forces in Iran since 2010. A total of 7 major assassinations have taken place across the country in the last 12 years.
7 ASSASSINATIONS IN 12 YEARS
After 2010, there has been a significant increase in assassinations and sabotage targeting high-ranking officials and scientists in Iran. For example, on January 12, 2010, a well-known physicist, Massoud Alimuhamedi, was killed when a bomb was planted on a motorcycle detonated in front of his house. Iran blamed Israel and the United States for the attack. Majid Jamali Fashi, who was caught in December 2010 as the perpetrator, admitted that Israel was behind the attack.
NUCLEAR PHYSICISTS WERE KILLED ONE BY ONE
On December 29, 2010, the targets of those involved in Iran’s nuclear program continued. This time, two professors working in the field of nuclear science at Shahid Beheshti University were attacked. As a result of the explosion of a remote-controlled bomb placed in his vehicle while he was driving, Professor Majid Shahriyari, who was working in the field of quantum physics at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, lost his life, while nuclear physics professor Faridun Abbasi survived with serious injuries.
CRITICAL PROGRAM COMMANDER FAILED TO PROTECT
Brigadier General Hassan Tehrani Muqaddam, known as the architect of Iranian missile technology, was killed in a massive explosion at a missile base near Tehran on November 12, 2011. The explosion killed Muqaddam and 17 other soldiers. In addition, Mustafa Ahmadi Rushan, a nuclear physicist working at the uranium enrichment center in Natanz, was killed when a bomb planted in his car exploded in Tehran on January 11, 2012. Rushan’s driver, Reza Qashqai, was among those killed in the attack .
ASSASSINATION OF FAHRIZADE, THE PIONEER OF THE NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Following the assassination of Quds Force Commander Major General Qasem Soleimani in a US attack in Baghdad on January 3, 2020, one of the biggest incidents that took place in Tehran was the assassination of scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, known as the architect of the nuclear program. This assassination also brought about discussions about intelligence weaknesses in Iran. The government’s intelligence agencies began to accumulate each other of this weakness. However, Israel, which was accused of the attack, did not officially admit that the assassination was carried out. Western media reported that this attack was carried out by Mossad. In a statement on Israeli television in June 2021, former Mossad director Yossi Cohen stated that the assassination of Fakhrizadeh was “under the supervision” of Mossad.
INTELLIGENCE WEAKNESS?
According to security experts, the assassinations in Iran indicate that there may be some weaknesses in the capacity of internal security and intelligence services to detect and prevent potential threats. In particular, the assassinations of senior military and scientific figures indicate deficiencies in protecting critical information and ensuring the security of sensitive targets. Experts point out that cybersecurity vulnerabilities in Iran could allow sensitive information to be intercepted by external forces or critical infrastructure to be attacked.
