Iran indicts 14 in top nuclear scientist’s assassination

TEHRAN: Iran has pressed charges against 14 people for their alleged role in the November 2020 assassination of top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, local media reported late on Sunday.

Fakhrizadeh, who had been under US sanctions for his role in Iran’s nuclear programme, was killed in an attack on his car outside Tehran that the Islamic republic has blamed on Israel. Tehran’s chief prosecutor Ali Salehi announced that "14 people were indicted" in the case, according to Tasnim news agency, without naming them.

The charges against them include "corruption on earth", aiding "espionage for the Zionist regime", "colluding with the purpose of disrupting national security" and "actions against national security", Salehi said.

Iran claims that the bombing and shooting attack that killed Fakhrizadeh was carried out by a remote-controlled machine gun. Israel has never commented on the killing. In 2018, former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged that Fakhrizadeh had led Iran’s efforts to build an atomic bomb, a claim Iran has always vehemently denied.