# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/41 "2012-01-12T18:42:48Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > 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. I’d imagine that if I were a Mossad agent, I’d not wish to appear to be Jewish - it would be a hell of a lot easier to avoid scruitiny as a member of the majority. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/42 "2012-01-13T03:11:13Z")
With some fake documents I don’t think it would be hard for a Mossad agent, or some other foreign agent, to enter Iran by pretending to be someone from a less hostile nation. The work could also be farmed out to hired guns from other countries or even local Iranian thugs or malcontents. The United States has a sizable Iranian population, and many of them have little love for the current Iranian regime. In addition, Iran isn’t exactly a small nation. I imagine it would be possible to covertly cross the border in remote areas. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/44 "2012-01-13T08:55:54Z")
> [@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 has fairly open borders with Turkey, so reaching Tehran can be as simple as getting on a flight from Istanbul with a fake passport. As for what they pretend to be when they’re there, they can pretend to be Russian businessmen (plenty of Russian-born Israelis), or they can simply be Iranians. Lots of Israelis can pass as Iranian in terms of looks - including the hundreds of thousands of Israelis descended from Persian Jews - and Israeli intelligence services are known for their thorough and intensive language classes. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/45 "2012-01-13T11:05:58Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Paris gun > [Paris Gun - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Gun) I’d never heard of the Paris Gun and found the Wikipedia article interesting: > [@](#): > > The projectile reached so high that it was the first human-made object to reach the stratosphere. The eminent historian Adam Hochschild put it this way: “It took about three minutes for each giant shell to cover the distance to the city, climbing to an altitude of 25 miles at the top of its trajectory. This was by far the highest point ever reached by a man-made object, so high that gunners, in calculating where the shells would land, had to take into account the rotation of the Earth. For the first time in warfare, deadly projectiles rained down on civilians from the stratosphere.” … > The Paris Gun shells were propelled at such a high velocity that each successive shot wore away a considerable amount of steel from the rifled bore. Each shell was sequentially numbered according to its increasing diameter, and had to be fired in numeric order, lest the projectile lodge in the bore, and the gun explode… I’ve no idea about the answer to OP. But if it’s Israel or the U.S., is it immoral? In a declared war, it’s OK to take out the other side’s snipers in cold blood, right? I’ve always wondered where to locate the slippery slope re: assassinating enemies. I think it’s wrong to call Iran nukes “inevitable” with present technology. Their program is quite visible and can be delayed by U.S. or Israel as long as they have the will to apply sufficient military force. (BTW, is it true that Iran sought rapprochement with U.S. about 9 years ago and was rebuffed?) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/46 "2012-01-14T04:06:36Z")
> [@Surrogate1999](#): > > Now, I hope I was able to portray the big picture. I do not want to draw conclusions, I just leave it to you to get whatever you want to get. The only advice I have for you is to spend only 15 minutes on wikipedia before you want to start to talk about any historical event! This and the rest above may well be the most abysmally ignorant assumption, suggestion and quote I’ve read in my decade on this board. Do you really think everyone needs to quantify the sum of their understanding on any subject before offering an opinion? I have no idea out from under which rock you crawled but perhaps you should spend a little time here before making such ignorant statements. I’m of an age that not only am I aware of the last fourty or so years of collusion and animosity between the two, I grieved and suffered through much of it as it happened; the 444 days of hostages, the Vincenes, etc, etc again _ad nauseum_. I lived it as opposed to you who apparently familiarized yourself via a web link. Iran is a pariah, a heavy handed, theocratic backwoods that denies freedoms basic to civilized nations and is one of the worst sponsors of the proliferation of terrorism in the ME. However, I’m sure your support of their policies and practices would meet with much discussion in Great Debates or, if you’ve the gumption, the Pit. Btw, a one post, drive by singling out a rather innocuous opinion on a board rife with so much more… you’re a “Surrogate” for who exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/47 "2012-01-14T04:19:31Z")
Who is killing them? Like “which Israelis”? ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/48 "2012-01-14T05:27:19Z")
Israel has always been blunt in this fashion. And they’ve got a sort of trademark signature - enormously and obviously violent, yet expertly executed. Less assassination, more gangster, maybe. Then again, I might be biased because of the [Lillehammer Affair](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillehammer_affair). There \*are \*a large number of countries who would benefit from Iran’s nuclear ambitions being curtails, I.E. pretty much the rest of the world. And since Israel is pretty much certain to take the political fallout for it unless the trigger-man is actually apprehended alive, a lot of nations have to ask themselves “why not?” ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/49 "2012-01-14T16:40:32Z")
Today Iran is saying it has evidence the CIA and Britain were involved. [http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/iran-cia-nuclear-scientists-killing-15361142#.TxGvRKWXTSg](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/iran-cia-nuclear-scientists-killing-15361142#.TxGvRKWXTSg) Warning: Cute picture of the victim with his son. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/50 "2012-01-14T18:43:35Z")
> [@Surrogate1999](#): > > Here is some evidence about American acts of violence against the Iranian people: > > 1- Overthrown of the democratic government of Mossadegh in 1953 by the British and the CIA. (evidence : U.S. later admitted involvement in the coup, Albright later expressed regret of the US involvement in the coup) > > 2- Diplomatic and Military Support by the U.S government to the brutal regime of the Shah in crack down of the protests that later lead to the 1979 revolution. (evidence: President Carter expressed strong support repeatedly of the Brutal Iranian Monarchy prior to 1979, just like what U.S. did to Mubarak in Egypt) > > 3- Strong support for Saddam Hossein by the U.S. Government during the Iran-Iraq war (1981-1989) (evidence : Donald Rumsfeld visited Iraq during the war and had a meeting with Saddam in 1983, they gave essential chemicals that were necessary to build chemical weapons and then later said that it was for “agricultural purposes” ) > > 4- Iran Air Flight 655, a civilian jet airliner was shot down by U.S. missiles on July 3, 1988, over the Strait of Hormuz, toward the end of the Iran–Iraq War. (evidence: Just GOOGLE IT!!) > > 5- There has been several assassinations of Iranian Nuclear scientists during the last year: Majid Shahriari, Dariush Rezaei and his wife and now Ahmadi Roshan. All of them scientists who were working on enrichment of Uranium which is “necessary” for a peaceful nuclear activity (Iran does not have a nuclear weapon and is a signatory party of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, So these guys were not working on any evidence: just google it! All the US is saying is that Iran “might one day” get a nuclear weapon) > > 6- One last point: Iran does not have a nuclear weapon and has signed the NPT that make it obligated not to ever pursue nuclear military program, BUT there is a country that has several thousands of nuclear weapons and has used it not once but twice! GUESS WHO? ( I can help you guess, it starts with a “U” and ends with and “S”!!) I knew all that and I still support covert actions against Iran’s nuclear program. Just because someone has good reasons to dislike you doesn’t make them any less of a threat. In fact, it might make them more of a threat. I don’t stay awake late at night worrying about what might happen if Iran obtains nuclear weapons. But I think the United States and most of the rest of the world would be better off if they didn’t. It’s unfortunate that powerful nations often push around (to put it mildly) less powerful nations. But that does not excuse the misdeeds of less powerful nations any more than it cancels out the good deeds of powerful nations. As a citizen of a powerful nation, I don’t see what’s in it for me and mine if Iran develops nuclear weapons. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168/51 "2012-01-14T23:47:50Z")
The style seems to me to be more like the Taliban / Pakistan. Pakistan can’t be very happy about having two nuclear-capable enemies, can it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-assassinating-iranian-nuclear-scientists/609168.md?page=2)