# Who is assassinating Iranian Nuclear scientists? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 11, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168 "2012-01-11T15:35:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/21 "2012-01-11T20:35:29Z")
Maybe it’s Sarah Connor: > [@](#): > > How are you supposed to know? Fucking men like you built the hydrogen bomb. Men like you thought it up. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/22 "2012-01-11T20:38:31Z")
I may be wrong, but I suspect some guy named Mo Ssad. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/23 "2012-01-11T20:51:35Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Their remaining nuclear scientists might be forgiven for thinking along those lines. Although they may not have much personal choice in the matter. > > I’d be surprised if the US had intelligence assets on the ground in Iran who could operate so effectively. Maybe the CIA could provide tech support, like satellite tracking of the target scientists, though. I’m sure the CIA isn’t crying over it. Harassing and delaying Iran’s nuclear program is cheaper than committing to a military surgical strike of some kind, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/24 "2012-01-11T20:58:18Z")
I suspect Mossad too, if only because they strike me as the most competant intelligence agency around. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/25 "2012-01-11T21:00:42Z")
Pakistani Max Brooks fans. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/26 "2012-01-11T21:06:00Z")
Don’t forget the Russians. They can’t be happy about a Nuclear Iran either. They could be playing both sides. Sell the equipment to them for a profit and later kill the scientists. The list of suspects just grows longer and longer. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/27 "2012-01-11T21:18:44Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Mossad most likely. But for some crazy reason I’m picturing a lone Gurkha under deep cover running a samosa stand somewhere in Tehran. . . Ludicrous. If there was a lone Gurkha in Tehran the entire government would be stacked in the street like cordwood in just under 30 minutes and there would be no more of this “Iran is pursuing nukes” nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/28 "2012-01-11T21:39:22Z")
It bears the marks of the Mossad-well planned, professionally executed. I think that Iran may well reconsider-knowing that there are agents within Iran who can operate at will. I hope that the Mossad has inserted a bunch of Stuxnet-like worms into the Iranian military computer system. The mysterious explosions argue for this-what if their reactor were to mysteriously blow up? Or the Iranian electric grid to self destruct? Cyberwarfare is upon us. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/29 "2012-01-11T21:44:48Z")
You know how we occasionally hear about some hapless American tourist who’s charged with espionage in Iran? Yeah, that’s probably who’s doing it. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/30 "2012-01-12T01:29:26Z")
How about Saudi Arabia or other close countries. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/31 "2012-01-12T01:42:13Z")
> [@QuarkChild](#): > > I was wondering about this too when I saw the news this morning. My reaction was, “CIA or Mossad?” Reminds me of a joke I heard a while back. When the home of some known terrorist mysteriously explodes, people in the ME nod knowingly and say “Mossad”. When the house across the street from him blows up instead, they nod and say “CIA”. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/32 "2012-01-12T01:58:01Z")
It was Chuck Norris, [and I have the proof](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzETrULusOo). About 43 seconds in. Seriously, though, Israel has got to be at the top of the charts. Which makes it great for any other middle eastern country, since Iran would likely blame Israel no matter what. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/33 "2012-01-12T03:01:26Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > How about Saudi Arabia or other close countries. If their Secret Service is like their army, I’d say no. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/34 "2012-01-12T15:05:08Z")
Khidhir Hamza (nuclear scientist for Iraqs 1980s nuclear program) claimed the same things were happening in Iraq, the scientists were being assassinated. At the time the US was not as opposed to the program as we are to Irans (Reagan got mad when the Israelis bombed the reactor). But I don’t think western powers are the only ones that could be doing this. Saudi Arabia could be involved too. Probably Israel though, they seem to have the most motivation and track record of this kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/35 "2012-01-12T15:21:15Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > They could be playing both sides. Sell the equipment to them for a profit and later kill the scientists. Not a bad supposition. Its keeps a cash-rich client who will buy what it can’t make itself. Money, motive. Also, it can be expanded to any country in the region with Tech that can be sold if the client can’t make it for themselves. Former-Soviet states. Pakistan. (they know the value of maintaining an existing cash-flow; the “hunt” for Bin Laden being my cite.) ---
**Author:** ![robinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/848f3c/32.png) [@robinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinson)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/36 "2012-01-12T16:05:32Z")
I’m sorry you had to go there. A War On \_\_\_\_\_ (fill in the blank) is just a way to stabilize the status quo at a heavy cost. I still have a soft spot in my heart for European police forces that managed, within the framework of civil society, to quash several terrorist groups in the '80s ---
**Author:** ![robinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/848f3c/32.png) [@robinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinson)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/37 "2012-01-12T16:22:26Z")
Just to expand the list, how about a Sunni clique in Iraq? The means is so low-tech that anybody could do it. Local intelligence is the key factor. Is the Iranian opposition up to it? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/38 "2012-01-12T17:25:41Z")
> [@robinson](#): > > Just to expand the list, how about a Sunni clique in Iraq? The means is so low-tech that anybody could do it. Local intelligence is the key factor. Is the Iranian opposition up to it? Why would any opposition groups in Iran be targeting Iranian scientists? An Iranian nuclear weapons program isn’t a factor in domestic politics. ---
**Author:** ![No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/39 "2012-01-12T17:50:42Z")
While not disbelieving the accusation, how could the Mossad be pulling off assasinations in Iran so (relatively) easily? (Or at least effectively) I thought it would be quite difficult to get operatives in a fairly tight authoritarian state with no border access to Israel. I can understand one hit with a missile attack via intelligence, but teams on the ground? I know the Mossad did hits in Europe (according to that Spielberg movie I saw, which must be accurate) in _Munich_ but it’s much easier to get access to Europe than Iran, right? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/40 "2012-01-12T18:17:23Z")
> [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](#): > > While not disbelieving the accusation, how could the Mossad be pulling off assasinations in Iran so (relatively) easily? (Or at least effectively) I thought it would be quite difficult to get operatives in a fairly tight authoritarian state with no border access to Israel. > > I can understand one hit with a missile attack via intelligence, but teams on the ground? I know the Mossad did hits in Europe (according to that Spielberg movie I saw, which must be accurate) in _Munich_ but it’s much easier to get access to Europe than Iran, right? Iran is supposedly the most safe place for [URL=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian\_Jews#Conditions”]Jews to reside in the Middle East after Israel. Whether that would give the Mossad the ability move their people about in Iran, I have no idea. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168.md?page=3)