Iranian Nuclear Scientist Assassinated in Tehran

An Iranian nuclear scientist was assassinated in Tehran today, the state-run Mehr news agency reported, citing local police.

The wife of the unidentified scientist was injured in the attack, which took place on Bani Hashem street in the capital, the agency said. Further details would be announced later, Mehr said.

Iran in January said it was increasing the protection of its scientists following the assassination of two physicists last year. Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, a professor of elementary particle physics, was killed by a bomb outside his Tehran home in January 2010. Majid Shahriari, a scientist involved in Iran’s nuclear program, died in a Tehran bombing Nov. 29. A second blast in the capital on the same day injured Fereydoun Abasi, a physicist who was linked to the nuclear program in a 2007 United Nations resolution imposing sanctions on Iran.

Iran is under international pressure over its nuclear program, which the U.S. and allies say is a cover for building atomic weapons. Iran, which has accused Israel of involvement in the earlier killings, rejects the claim and says it needs nuclear technology to secure energy for its growing population.