Obituaries

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Mohsen Fakhrizadeh Mahabadi  (Persian: محسن فخری‌زاده مهابادی‎; 1958 – 27 November 2020) was an Iranian nuclear physicist.[2] He was a professor of physics at Imam Hussein University in Tehran and a brigadier general in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.[3][4] A UN Security Council resolution in 2007 identified him as a senior scientist in the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics and the former head of the Physics Research Center (PHRC) at Lavizan-Shian.


According to Alireza Jafarzadeh, Fakhrizadeh was a member of the Imam Hossein University faculty beginning in 1991.[6] In the early 2000s, Fakhrizadeh led an initiative called the Biological Study Centre, described as a successor to the Physics Research Centre (PHRC). The activities of this research group took place at Lavizan-Shian.[7] Between 2008 and 2011, he directed an institute called the Organization of Defense Innovation and Research (known as SPND, for its initials in Farsi), which was affiliated with Malek-Ashtar University of Technology.[8] Transliterated Sazman-e Pazhohesh va Noavarihaye Defaee, SPND was founded in February 2011 and headquartered within Iran's Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics.[9]


Fakhrizadeh had been subject to a UN Security Council asset freeze and travel notification requirements because the Council said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had asked to interview Fakhrizadeh and Iran refused to make him available.[10] With respect to Fakhrizadeh's work Iran has provided some information which the IAEA says is "not inconsistent with its findings", but the IAEA continues to seek corroboration of its findings.[11] According to the UN designation, Fakhrizadeh was a senior Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics scientist and former head of the Physics Research Center (PHRC). The IAEA asked to interview him about the activities of the PHRC over the period he was head, but Iran denied the request.[12] Fakhrizadeh was identified as a "key figure" in a 2007 report by the UN on Iran's nuclear programme.[13]

An internal 2007 Iranian document leaked to The Sunday Times identified Fakhrizadeh as the chairman of the Field for the Expansion of Deployment of Advanced Technology (FEDAT), the cover name for the organization running Iran's nuclear weapons programme. The document, entitled Outlook for Special Neutron-Related Activities over the Next Four Years, lays out a four-year plan to develop a uranium deuteride neutron initiator.[14][15][16]
In 2010, The Guardian reported that he was believed to be in charge of Iran's nuclear program.[17] In 2012, The Wall Street Journal called him "Tehran's atomic weapons guru";[18] in 2014, The New York Times called him the closest thing to an Iranian Oppenheimer

On 27 November 2020, Fakhrizadeh was ambushed while traveling in a vehicle on a rural road in Absard, a city near Tehran.[27][28][29] The attack was initiated when a truck carrying explosives hidden beneath a load of wood detonated near Fakhrizadeh's car.[30][31] A second vehicle was destroyed with a bomb.[32] Fakhrizadeh's bodyguards then clashed with gunmen.[33][27] Iranian sources reported that three to four of the attackers were killed while Fakhrizadeh's bodyguards and family members were also injured in the attack.[3][33] There were also reports of a suicide attacker who later died from his injuries.[34]


Fakhrizadeh was taken to a hospital where he died after efforts to resuscitate him failed.[3][35][33] Several others were also reportedly killed in the attack, possibly including family members who were traveling with Fakhrizadeh at the time.

Following the incident, Iranian security forces reportedly began stopping vehicles in Tehran in a search for the culprits.[31] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the roads were emptier than was typical, resulting in fewer witnesses.[36]
No group immediately claimed responsibility for his killing.[36]