Iranian professor assassinated; conspiracy theories abound

Correction: Michael Rubin, quoted below, e-mailed me to point out that I misrepresented two of his statements. First, he didn't suggest that the U.S. bomb Iranian nuclear facilities; he said Israel would consider "entombing" Iranian nuclear scientists; second, he didn't say explicitly that Ali-Mohammadi was assassinated because of nuclear work, only that it was "reasonable to suspect" such a motive. Careless mistakes on my part.

Original post: Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, an Iranian physics professor, was assassinated today by a bomb hidden on a motorcycle outside his home in north Tehran.

If we limit ourselves to the facts, that's really all we can say about this case. Nobody has claimed responsibility. The Iranian regime blamed the usual suspects: the Mujahedin-e Khalq, working in concert with the U.S., Israel, and other unnamed Western powers. A spokesman for the State Department said claims of U.S. involvement were "absurd."

Nobody is sure whether Ali-Mohammadi worked on Iran's nuclear program; news reports frequently describe him as a "top nuclear scientist." Iran's state-funded Press TV used the same formulation.

But several colleagues told the New York Times he actually specialized in particle physics, and there's no hard evidence that he worked on the Iranian nuclear program.

Nobody is sure about Ali-Mohammadi's politics, either. State-run news outlets call him a staunch supporter of the 1979 revolution; opposition Web sites say he was a strong Mir Hossein Mousavi supporter. Former colleagues say he wasn't interested in politics.

Point is: We don't know enough details to draw any conclusions about this story. But that hasn't stopped the commentariat: Michael Rubin says "it's reasonable to suspect" Ali-Mohammadi was assassinated over his role in the nuclear program. Glenn Greenwald tiptoes up to suggesting U.S. involvement, though he never says it outright.

We'll refrain from speculating! And we'll keep you posted on this story as details emerge.

1 Comment