Rezaeinejad Was Expert on High-Voltage Switches – AP Report

Possible Weapons Applications

The Associated Press in an exclusive report published today quotes an unnamed IAEA official that Darioush Rezaeinejad, the scientist shot dead on a Tehran street by motorcycle-riding gunmen last Saturday, was an expert on high-voltage switches which are key components in setting off the explosions needed to trigger a nuclear warhead. AP named the late Rezaeinejad as the co-author of an abstract on the subject, entitled “Designing, Manufacturing and Testing a Closing Switch.”

Last May, IAEA reported seven “areas of concern” related to Iran’s nuclear program. Four of those areas dealt with high-voltage switches and suspected “high voltage firing equipment and instrumentation for explosives testing” for possible weapons applications.

The AP report states that Rezaeinejad’s abstract was presented to the 16th Conference of Iranian Power Engineering in Tehran three years ago. The slain scientist reportedly claimed success during his presentation. If accurate, the technology moves Iran closer to capability of setting off a nuclear explosion if it so chooses. Nuclear warheads are triggered by a series of conventional explosions, and the switch in question is a key piece of hardware in the process.

Iran Demands UN Probe into Assassination of Nuclear Scientist

Iran submitted a letter to the UN Human Rights Commission demanding an investigation into the killing last Saturday of an Iranian nuclear scientist. Javad Larijani, the secretary general of Iran's High Council of Human Rights, blamed Israel and the West for the assassination of Daryoush Rezayienejad, who was gunned down outside his home in Tehran.

“The UN Security Council issues a resolution and makes a list of our scientists, then some terrorists who receive money from the CIA and the Mossad kill them. This is a very clear game and strong action should be taken about it," said Larijani in the letter [Fars News Agency, 27 July].

In the letter, addressed to Navi Pillay, the director of UNHCR, Larijani demanded an investigation into the killing of the scientist.

Larijani’s letter to UNHCR confirms the initial reports out of Tehran that the late Rezayienejad was indeed one of country’s nuclear scientists. On Sunday, Iran’s intelligence minister had denied Rezayienejad had any links to the country’s nuclear program and raised serious doubts that his assassination was the work of any foreign intelligence agencies.

Iran Denies Reports of Nuclear Scientist Assassination

Iran's Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi said today that the slain Daryoush Rezaienejad was a 35-year old graduate student who had no links to the country’s nuclear program or the defense ministry. Moslehi also said the method of his assassination did not necessarily indicate foreign intelligence involvement.

“The assassinated student was not involved in nuclear projects and had no connection to the nuclear issue,” Moslehi said. “He (Rezaienejad) was a student who was martyred and it is not clear whether a foreign intelligence agency was involved in his assassination or not,” he added. [ISNA, 24 July].

Yesterday, major Iranian news agencies, including ISNA, Mehr and Fars, said the slain scientist was a nuclear physicist with links to nuclear and defense establishment. Today, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said the assassination of the scientist was the work of US and Israeli intelligence. Now the minister of intelligence is denying all these reports.

Nuclear Scientist Assassinated in Tehran

Iran on Sunday blamed the US and Israel for the killing of an Iranian scientist. Darioush Rezaienejad, 35, a university professor, was shot dead by gunmen in eastern Tehran on Saturday.

“The terrorist action by American and the Zionist regime (Israel) yesterday is another example of the level of their animosity against Iran," said Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani in a speech broadcast live on state TV [IRIB, 24 July].

Mehr News Agency reported on Saturday that Rezaienejad was a physics professor with specialty in neutron physics. ISNA said that the slain professor was an expert with link to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI). Meanwhile, Fars News Agency reported that Rezaienejad was also associated with the defense ministry. Based on the reactions by Iranian officials, including Speaker Larijani, and the reports by the Iranian news agencies, the late professor apparently had a sensitive position within the country’s nuclear and defense establishment.

Rezaienejad was killed in front of his house and there are reports that his wife was also injured during the attack.

Several Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated in recent years. Last November, Majid Shahriari was killed in Tehran when men on motorcycles attached a bomb to his car. The current AEOI director, Fereydoon Abbasi, survived a similar assassination attempt on the same day. Another top Iranian nuclear scientist, Masoud Ali Mohammadi, was killed in a bomb blast in January 2010.