Revealed, Israeli Intelligence Shoots Dead Iranian Nuclear Expert With Remotely Controlled Sniper Rifle

Military funeral ceremony for Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. (Wikimedia Commons/Fars News Agency)

JAKARTA - The mystery of the death of the head of the military nuclear scientist and 'Father of the Weapons Program' Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in November 2020, after the United States (US) media last Saturday reported that Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, was behind the death.

The report also said the Mossad used sniper rifles that were operated with artificial intelligence (AI) technology, as well as remotely controlled.

Citing The Jerusalem Post of The New York Times, a number of controversies surround this event. Some intelligence sources say the assassination of Fakhrizadeh is as important as Iran's setback in its pursuit of a nuclear bomb as the destruction of the Natanz nuclear facility in July 2020.

"Iranian agents working for Mossad had parked a blue Nissan Zamyad pickup truck on the side of the road connecting Absard town to the main highway. It was at a slight elevation with a view of approaching vehicles. Hidden under the tarpaulin and diverting construction material in the tailgate was 7.62 mm sniper machine gun," the report from The Jerusalem Post September 18 as saying.

Top Iranian officials surround Mohsen Fakhrizadeh's coffin. (Wikimedia Commons/Fars News Agency)

"At around 1 pm, the attacking team received a signal that Mr. Fakhrizadeh, his wife, and a team of armed guards in escort cars were leaving for Absard, where many of Iran's elite have second homes and holiday villas," the report continued.

Further, the report details how the snipers who finished off Fakhrizadeh did so remotely, from Israel, more than 1,600 kilometers away, because the assassination squad had long since left Iran.

The rifle used is a special model of the Belgian-made FN MAG machine gun mounted on advanced robotic equipment. The rifle was smuggled into the country in small pieces over several months because put together, all of its components would weigh about a full ton.

One new detail in the report was that the explosives used to destroy evidence of long-range weapons had partially failed, leaving enough weapons intact for Iran to know what had happened.

Iranian soldiers carry Mohsen Fakhrizadeh's coffin. (Wikimedia Commons/Fars News Agency)

Many of the above details were published by The Jewish Chronicle in a report in February, following conflicting reports in Iran, Israel, and globally in November and December 2020, about whether long-range weapons or physical teams were used.

At the time of the assassination, most Israeli defense and intelligence media analysts leaned heavily on the physical team theory, viewing the long-range weapons scenario as disinformation to keep Iran from pursuing physical teams.

At the time of the February report by The Jewish Chronicle, The Post was told the planning of the assassination that began in March 2020 was accurate, but that some aspects of the report, such as having led to Iran's nuclear program being pulled back five times, is not accurate.

The Post can now confirm that the long-range weapons section of The Jewish Chronicle and now The Times report is accurate.

While all Israeli intelligence and defense officials are still praising the assassination, it halted Iran's nuclear weapons program dramatically at the time. Now or ten months later, Iran is estimated to be one month away from producing enough enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb.

The coffin of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. (Wikimedia Commons/Fars News Agency)

The Post later reported that a publicly unknown man named "Farhi" replaced Fakhrizadeh, although experts say he cannot be completely replaced.

Some would say the operation managed to throw Iran's nuclear program into disarray for several months, but Tehran has long recovered.

On the other hand, some say that even if Iran decides to move its uranium enrichment up to 90%, i.e. the level of weapons, it still has to put together other components of its nuclear weapons capability.

This includes tasks related to the detonation and delivery of missiles. Fakhizadeh will shine in these tasks and his loss will continue to be felt and slow down the effort.