Be it through murders, Kidnapping, Virus attacks or sanctions, a careful and well coordinated stealth Programme is on to Jeopardise years of nuclear capability building by Iran. Is the US, along with its allies, drawing itself into another long drawn misdirected war? Is the hype being built about Iran’s supposed nuke ambitions even real?
The importance of nuclear scientists can hardly be undermined by a country harbouring nuclear ambitions. Iran is one of those nations that acquire centre stage. The country has not only built several nuclear reactors but has also, since the last few decades, set up a number of nuclear research centres and universities. The government also encouraged its youth to take up courses in science & technology and consequently created a huge array of nuclear physicists and scientists. Of course, sanctions from the US also came in tow. But if recent revelations are looked at, a slew of covert attempts are being made to jeopardise Iran’s nuclear programme.
The recent murder of Darioush Rezaeinejad, on July 23, 2011 in Tehran has raised concerns about the security of nuclear scientists and physicists in Iran and how it also affects the country’s nuclear ambitions. If one goes by reports, many such incidents have taken place in the past as well. In January 2007, Iranian nuclear scientist Ardeshir Hosseinpour was found dead under mysterious circumstances. A private American intelligence firm Stratfor claimed that Mossad was behind the ‘radioactive poisoning’ execution. In another incident, Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, quantum physicist working as a professor at Tehran University, was killed in Tehran in January 2010. Similarly, Majid Shahriyari, working at Iran’s Atomic Energy Commission, a prominent figure in Iran’s nuclear program and a specialist in neutron transport, was murdered (in a car bomb attack) on November 2010. On the same day, another scientist Fereydoon Abbasi (currently head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation), escaped death by a whisker. Besides the above, a number of important physicists have also been kidnapped in the last three years. In one example, in June 2009, Shahram Amiri – an Iranian nuclear expert of radioactive isotopes at Malek-Ashtar University of Technology (MUT) and also working with Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation – was kidnapped from Saudi Arabia and was reportedly extradited to US; the scientist strangely resurfaced in July 2010.
Concurrently, there have been a series of attacks on the computers in Iran’s nuclear facilities, including one major hit by a malware named Stuxnet (supposedly developed by Israel with the help of America’s intelligence). Stuxnet destroyed almost 20% of Iran’s centrifuge systems in their nuclear facility. Early 2011 saw another such attack, which has apparently pushed back Iran’s nuclear progress by two years. A WikiLeaks cable commenting on Stuxnet revealed that US was “advised to perform ‘covert sabotage’ of Iran’s nuclear facilities, including computer hacking” by an influential German think tank. In fact, it is alleged that George Bush approved $300 million for this joint covert project before leaving office in 2009. Condoleezza Rice, Volker Perthes (Director of the Institute for Security & International Affairs & an expert on Iran) and Philip Murphy (US ambassador to Germany) were all involved in this project, as revealed by WikiLeaks.
The recent murder of Darioush Rezaeinejad, on July 23, 2011 in Tehran has raised concerns about the security of nuclear scientists and physicists in Iran and how it also affects the country’s nuclear ambitions. If one goes by reports, many such incidents have taken place in the past as well. In January 2007, Iranian nuclear scientist Ardeshir Hosseinpour was found dead under mysterious circumstances. A private American intelligence firm Stratfor claimed that Mossad was behind the ‘radioactive poisoning’ execution. In another incident, Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, quantum physicist working as a professor at Tehran University, was killed in Tehran in January 2010. Similarly, Majid Shahriyari, working at Iran’s Atomic Energy Commission, a prominent figure in Iran’s nuclear program and a specialist in neutron transport, was murdered (in a car bomb attack) on November 2010. On the same day, another scientist Fereydoon Abbasi (currently head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation), escaped death by a whisker. Besides the above, a number of important physicists have also been kidnapped in the last three years. In one example, in June 2009, Shahram Amiri – an Iranian nuclear expert of radioactive isotopes at Malek-Ashtar University of Technology (MUT) and also working with Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation – was kidnapped from Saudi Arabia and was reportedly extradited to US; the scientist strangely resurfaced in July 2010.
Concurrently, there have been a series of attacks on the computers in Iran’s nuclear facilities, including one major hit by a malware named Stuxnet (supposedly developed by Israel with the help of America’s intelligence). Stuxnet destroyed almost 20% of Iran’s centrifuge systems in their nuclear facility. Early 2011 saw another such attack, which has apparently pushed back Iran’s nuclear progress by two years. A WikiLeaks cable commenting on Stuxnet revealed that US was “advised to perform ‘covert sabotage’ of Iran’s nuclear facilities, including computer hacking” by an influential German think tank. In fact, it is alleged that George Bush approved $300 million for this joint covert project before leaving office in 2009. Condoleezza Rice, Volker Perthes (Director of the Institute for Security & International Affairs & an expert on Iran) and Philip Murphy (US ambassador to Germany) were all involved in this project, as revealed by WikiLeaks.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
