Dummerweise am gleichen Tag, an dem Wikileaks über 250.000 teils recht peinliche bis brisante Dokumente aus dem us-amerikanischen Außenministerium öffentlich zugänglich macht, werden in Teheran zwei iranische Atomphysiker durch Autobomben getötet.
Meldung 1: Eine Depesche aus den heute von Wikileaks öffentlich zugänglich gemachten Dokumenten des US-Außenministeriums

Sunday, 20 April 2008, 08:47, Reference-ID 08RIYADH649
FM AMEMBASSY RIYADH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
S E C R E T

¶10. (S) The King, Foreign Minister, Prince Muqrin, and
Prince Nayif all agreed that the Kingdom needs to cooperate with the US on resisting and rolling back Iranian influence and subversion in Iraq. The King was particularly adamant on this point, and it was echoed by the senior princes as well.
Al-Jubeir recalled the King's frequent exhortations to the US to attack Iran and so put an end to its nuclear weapons program. "He told you to cut off the head of the snake," he recalled to the Charge', adding that working with the US to roll back Iranian influence in Iraq is a strategic priority for the King and his government.

¶11. (S) The Foreign Minister, on the other hand, called
instead for much more severe US and international sanctions on Iran, including a travel ban and further restrictions on bank lending. Prince Muqrin echoed these views, emphasizing that some sanctions could be implemented without UN approval.
The Foreign Minister also stated that the use of military pressure against Iran should not be ruled out.

¶13. (U) This cable was reviewed and cleared by Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus.

Meldung 2: Heute morgen veröffentlichte der Guardian neben vielen anderen auch diese Depesche aus der us-amerikanischen Botschaft in Riad und gab kurz darauf nach Meldungen iranischer Nachrichtenagenturen bekannt, daß heute zwei iranische Atomphysiker Opfer von Bombenattentaten wurden.

“Bomb attacks have killed a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist and wounded another in Tehran, state TV reported today.
Attackers riding on motorcycles attached the bombs to the car windows of the scientists as they were driving to their workplaces this morning, the station's website said.
One bomb killed Majid Shahriari, a member of the nuclear engineering faculty at the Shahid Beheshti University, in Tehran. His wife, who was in the car with him, was wounded.
The second blast seriously wounded the nuclear physicist Fereidoun Abbasi,52, also a professor at Shahid Besheshti University, and his wife [...]
At least two other Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed in recent years, one in an attack similar to today's. Iran has said it suspects the attacks were part of a covert attempt by the west to undermine the country's nuclear programme.
A pro-government website, mashreghnews.ir, said Abbasi held a PhD in nuclear physics and a laser expert at Iran's defence ministry. He was one of only a few top Iranian specialists in nuclear isotope separation, the site said [...]
The website said Shahriari was an expert in elementary particle physics and had designed "the new generation of theoretical nuclear reactors". Both scientists were members of the central committee of Iran's nuclear association [...]
The attacks bore close similarities to another, in January, that killed the Tehran University professor Masoud Ali Mohammadi, a senior physics tutor. He died when a motorcycle fitted with a bomb exploded near his car as he was about to leave for work.”

Ein Leser dazu auf tagesschau.de: “Wie bitte? Ich dachte Terrorismus wird ausschließlich durch fanatische islamistische Extremisten ausgeübt. Doch nicht etwa durch westliche Geheimdienste.” – Aber bekanntlich ist ein Schelm, wer Böses dabei denkt, und wer sich trotzdem Gedanken über mögliche Zusammenhänge macht, hat ganz schnell das Etikett “Verschwörungstheoretiker” an der Backe, das in vielen Fällen berechtigt sein mag, in anderen schlichtweg eine Art Denkverbot verhängen soll.
Nun erinnert der Guardian in seinem Bericht allerdings gleich selbst daran, daß Majid Shahriari und Fereidoun Abbasi nicht die ersten Attentatsopfer unter iranischen Atomphysikern sind.
Am 4. Februar 2007 nämlich meldete die Sunday Times:

“A prize-winning Iranian nuclear scientist has died in mysterious circumstances, according to Radio Farda, which is funded by the US State Department and broadcasts to Iran. An intelligence source suggested that Ardeshire Hassanpour, 44, a nuclear physicist, had been assassinated by Mossad, the Israeli security service.
Hassanpour worked at a plant in Isfahan where uranium hexafluoride gas is produced. The gas is needed to enrich uranium in another plant at Natanz which has become the focus of concerns that Iran may be developing nuclear weapons.
According to Radio Farda, Iranian reports of Hassanpour’s death emerged on January 21 after a delay of six days, giving the cause as “gas poisoning”. The Iranian reports did not say how or where Hassanpour was poisoned but his death was said to have been announced at a conference on nuclear safety.
Rheva Bhalla of Stratfor, the US intelligence company, claimed on Friday that Hassanpour had been targeted by Mossad and that there was “very strong intelligence” to suggest that he had been assassinated by the Israelis, who have repeatedly threatened to prevent Iran acquiring the bomb.”

Anfang dieses Jahres, ebenfalls im Teheraner Berufsverkehr am frühen Morgen, wurde der Quantenphysiker Professor Massud Ali-Mohammadi durch eine auf einem Motorrad angebrachte Bombe getötet. Wer für seinen Tod verantwortlich ist, steht bis heute nicht fest und ist umstritten. Einen Monat nach seinem Tod brachte der britische Telegraph allerdings einen längeren Artikel unter der Schlagzeile "Israel launches covert war against Iran". Darin heißt es:

“Israel has launched a covert war against Iran as an alternative to direct military strikes against Tehran's nuclear programme, US intelligence sources have revealed.
It is using hitmen, sabotage, front companies and double agents to disrupt the regime's illicit weapons project, the experts say.
The most dramatic element of the "decapitation" programme is the planned assassination of top figures involved in Iran's atomic operations.
[...] Mossad was rumoured to be behind the death of Ardeshire Hassanpour, a top nuclear scientist at Iran's Isfahan uranium plant, who died in mysterious circumstances from reported "gas poisoning" in 2007.
Other recent deaths of important figures in the procurement and enrichment process in Iran and Europe have been the result of Israeli "hits", intended to deprive Tehran of key technical skills at the head of the programme, according to Western intelligence analysts.
"Israel has shown no hesitation in assassinating weapons scientists for hostile regimes in the past," said a European intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity. They did it with Iraq and they will do it with Iran when they can."

Drei Tage später gab es eine kritische Einschätzung dieses Artikels auf der Homepage der Stanford Review. Fazit: Der israelische Geheimdienst hat solche Killerkommandos in der Vergangenheit bereits mehrfach ausgeführt. Weiter: “there are clear historical examples that can shed some light on whether such programs are feasible. Both sabotage and assassination can cause serious problems for technical programs that depend upon precise equipment and rare engineering skillsets.”

Am 3.12.20 veröffentlichte die Asia Times einen Artikel über die Teheraner Attentate vom 29.11., der auf einer Analyse der amerikanischen Agentur für geopolitical intelligence STRATFOR beruht.
Gerüchte, die iranische Regierung selbst könnte die beiden Wissenschaftler ausgeschaltet haben, werden darin als ziemlich unglaubhaft zurückgewiesen: "Abassi and Shahriari appear much too close to the regime to be targets of their own government".
Inländische Oppositions- oder Widerstandsgruppen verfügen nach Ansicht der Agentur nicht über das Know how, derart avancierte Sprengsätze wie die verwendeten herzustellen, ausländischen Geheimdiensten oder Killerkommandos andererseits dürfte es sehr schwer fallen, so langfristig und ausgiebig in Teheran zu operieren, wie es in diesen beiden Fällen anscheindend geschah.
Fazit: "It is unlikely that any foreign power was able to conduct this operation by itself and equally unlikely that any indigenous militant group was able to pull off an attack like this without some assistance. The combination of the two, however, could provide an explanation of how the attacks targeting Shariari and Abassi got so close to complete success."

Attacks on Nuclear Scientists in Tehran is republished with permission of STRATFOR.