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Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's representative to the IAEA, taking journalists' questions during a tour of the uranium conversion facility in Isfahan on Saturday. (Reuters)
Last update - 13:55 04/02/2007
U.S. website: Mossad killed Iranian nuclear physicist
By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent

A senior nuclear physicist involved in Iran's nuclear program who died under mysterious circumstances two weeks ago was killed by the Mossad, according to a report released in a U.S. website this weekend.

The website - Stratfor.com - features intelligence and security analysis by former U.S. intelligence agents.

Professor Ardashir Hosseinpour, a world authority on electromagnetism, was until recently working on uranium enrichment at the facility in Isfahan, one of the central processing sites in Iran's nuclear program.
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The physicist died January 18, but news of his death only emerged six days later in two Iranian media outlets.

A report released this weekend in Stratfor.com stated that the Mossad was behind Hosseinpour's death.

The report said the physicist died from "radioactive poisoning" as part of a Mossad effort to halt the Iranian nuclear program through "secret operations."

The site indicates that in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Mossad was involved in the deaths of scientists involved with the Iraqi nuclear program. At least three scientists were killed in those operations.

A website of expatriate Iranian communists said that several other scientists were killed or injured in the operation to kill Hosseinpour at Isfahan, and given treatment at nearby hospitals.

The site says Iranian physicians are trying to determine the circumstances of the deaths, and believe they may have to deal with similar incidents in the future.

News of Hosseinpour's death appeared in the Al-Quds daily, published in Tehran, and in a release by the Iranian Students' News Agency.

Both news items said Hosseinpour died from "poison gas."

Radio Farda - a Persian-language station operated by the U.S. government - said several days ago that the scientist died of "smoke inhalation."

The Radio Farda report said Hosseinpour, 45, was considered an expert in the field of electromagnetism and formerly taught in the physics department at Shiraz University. He also published widely in international publications.

Hosseinpour was also recently employed by Isfahan's Malik Ashtar University of Technology. Several departments of that institution have been implicated as being involved in Iran's secret nuclear program, believed to be conducted in parallel with its official, disclosed program.

University Rector Mahdi Najad Nuri, a general in the Revolutionary Guards, was named a month ago on a UN Security Council list of people and institutions whose activity should be monitored for alleged contacts with Tehran's nuclear program.

Scientists at the Isfahan facility convert natural uranium powder to a gaseous state for transfer to the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz. There the uranium flows into hundreds of centrifuges, where it undergoes a high-speed process of enrichment
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  1.   God bless the Mossad 14:00  |  Israeli-American 04/02/07
  2.   Normal Action 14:02  |  Arik 04/02/07
  3.   When Mossad agents get caught in Iran 14:14  |  spyguy 04/02/07
  4.   Arik,it was your Neturei Karta rabbi Weiss poisoning them 14:16  |  Absolute Sweden 04/02/07
  5.   mossad 14:17  |  ahad aham 04/02/07
  6.   Accident 14:25  |  Peter 04/02/07
  7.   Story makes no sense 14:27  |  FOX 04/02/07
  8.   perhaps mossad also poisoned litvinenko? 14:31  |  dana 04/02/07
  9.   Speculation 14:37  |  Anders 04/02/07
  10.   Hmmm... 15:05  |  An Arab Neighbor 04/02/07
  11.   Why we can be sure this is Israeli propaganda 15:13  |  Clickfool 04/02/07
  12.   Hmmm....II 15:13  |  An Arab Neighbor 04/02/07
  13.   mossad 15:14  |  leoncio 04/02/07
  14.   Mossad killed Physicist? 15:23  |  Ros 04/02/07
  15.   to dana - #8 15:31  |  Amused 04/02/07
  16.   to Israeli-American: Yes, God bless the murderers at the Mossad.. 15:32  |  peacelover 04/02/07
  17.   mazel tov Mossad 15:34  |  Ed 04/02/07
  18.   Mossad is too good... .a false web report by ignored people.t 15:38  |  Richie 04/02/07
  19.   Good Work 15:41  |  Richard 04/02/07
  20.   Blameing the M. 15:46  |  David Nigel Braham 04/02/07
  21.   we can expand our collection 15:50  |  Samir Salameh 04/02/07
  22.   Clickfool: Your Jealousy is Showing Yet Again. 15:51  |  Joanne 04/02/07
  23.   Blaming the Jews 15:53  |  Brod 04/02/07
  24.   Jumping to conclusions - and immediate fingerpointing to Mossad 15:58  |  Jeroen de Jager 04/02/07
  25.   Another Israeli control fantasy 15:59  |  Tim 04/02/07
  26.   An Arab Neighbour 16:06  |  Jewish cousin 04/02/07
  27.   Samir Salameh 16:08  |  realist 04/02/07
  28.   #10 Arab 16:13  |  Willy 04/02/07
  29.   Reply to Arab Neighbour 16:13  |  D Hirod 04/02/07
  30.   Response to Spyguy 16:13  |  Harry D 04/02/07
  31.   To realist We have your soldiers 16:25  |  Samir Salameh 04/02/07
  32.   to leonico #13 16:28  |  ahad aham 04/02/07
  33.   Dear Samir #21 16:28  |  Gouta 04/02/07
  34.   samir 16:34  |  bev 04/02/07
  35.   Good 16:36  |  Yosemite 04/02/07
  36.   MOSSAD KILLING EQUATES TO ACT OF WAR 16:36  |  Muhammud al-Swain 04/02/07
  37.   Long live the almighty Mossad! 16:37  |  Spoon 04/02/07
  38.   If The 16:46  |  David 04/02/07
  39.   DIPLOMACY - What´s that? 16:46  |  Max 04/02/07
  40.   Iranian screw up - Blame Mossad 16:47  |  TM 04/02/07
  41.   Perhaps Muhammad the Iranians are incompetent fools 16:48  |  Ahmed el-Abadar 04/02/07
  42.   Persian Propoganda 16:52  |  Nasib 04/02/07
  43.   If spies get caught, IsraelWest will accuse iran of anti semitism 16:53  |  moise 04/02/07
  44.   Gouta 16:53  |  samir salameh 04/02/07
  45.   Thank god he didn`t die from Polonium poisoning 16:57  |  Putin 04/02/07
  46.   The Iranian scientists 16:58  |  Tamtam 04/02/07
  47.   El Swine 17:02  |  Tamtam 04/02/07
  48.   Neturai Karta agent 17:04  |  El_Justiciero 04/02/07
  49.   To Jewish Cousin 17:06  |  An Arab Neighbor 04/02/07
  50.   terror at its best 17:08  |  mossad 04/02/07
  51.   if only 17:09  |  aeli 04/02/07
  52.   Clickfoul number 1. 17:09  |  David Nigel BRaham 04/02/07
  53.   Samir 17:15  |  Gouta 04/02/07
  54.   # 8 Dana 17:16  |  Lynn 04/02/07
  55.   44We know samir. We are there with you too. 17:22  |  mossad 04/02/07
  56.   "God bless the Mossad" 17:22  |  American 04/02/07
  57.   iran 17:23  |  baracuda 04/02/07
  58.   U ALL NUTS 17:31  |  Dude 04/02/07
  59.   # 12 Arab 17:35  |  Lynn 04/02/07
  60.   # 36 al Swain 17:37  |  Lynn 04/02/07
  61.   scientist dies 17:49  |  yahn goodey 04/02/07
  62.   Gouta Peace When we All get our prisoners back 17:52  |  Samir Salameh 04/02/07
  63.   # 44 Samir 17:55  |  Lynn 04/02/07
  64.   We all know 18:00  |  Flyer 04/02/07
  65.   To Lynn 18:08  |  Samir Salameh 04/02/07
  66.   blame game 18:11  |  virginia orrall 04/02/07
  67.   To Fox #7 18:21  |  Gordon 04/02/07
  68.   Mossad better than KGB 18:26  |  Lev Adam 04/02/07
  69.   Science-fiction in Iran 18:28  |  Esther 04/02/07
  70.   MURDER OF IRANIANS BY ISRAEL 18:32  |  ISHMAEL ISHMAEL 04/02/07
  71.   to dana 18:35  |  Sol 04/02/07
  72.   Mossad & Iranian physicist 18:41  |  Turk182 04/02/07
  73.   No scientists died...none were killed