An Israeli missile strike in the final hours before last month’s ceasefire reportedly killed a senior Iranian nuclear scientist at the heart of the country’s clandestine weapons program, according to a new report by the opposition-linked outlet Iran International.

The scientist, Mohammad Reza Sadighi, was described as a leading explosives expert central to Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Iran International labeled him “Iran’s hope for acquiring a nuclear bomb,” citing his decades-long involvement in developing the explosive core of a nuclear weapon.

The strike occurred at approximately 1:07 a.m. on June 23 in the city of Astaneh Ashrafieh in Gilan province, northwest of Tehran — less than three hours before the ceasefire between Israel and Iran took effect. Witnesses told the outlet they heard a small plane and a fighter jet in the area shortly before the explosions rocked the neighborhood.

Although Sadighi was publicly presented as a Defense Ministry researcher involved in Iran’s COVID-19 vaccine development, Iran International reported that this was a cover for his real work in the Islamic Republic’s military nuclear program. His family, according to the outlet, was unaware of the true nature of his activities.

A trained nuclear engineer, Sadighi held a doctorate and was affiliated with Malek Ashtar University of Technology — a Defense Ministry-run institution long linked to Iran’s weapons development efforts. He previously led the Research and Technology Center for Advanced Chemical Materials, a division connected to nuclear explosives work, and chaired a chemical company supplying materials for weapons production.

Sadighi’s involvement reportedly extended to advanced computer modeling of explosive tests and simulations essential to nuclear weapons design. Documents bearing his name were among the trove seized during Israel’s 2018 raid on Iran’s nuclear archive, according to Iran International.

The scientist had narrowly escaped death on the war’s opening day, June 13, in an earlier Israeli strike that killed nine other Iranian nuclear experts. Sadighi’s 17-year-old son died in that attack. He subsequently went into hiding at his father-in-law’s home, where he was ultimately killed.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)