Iran Announces Death Sentence for 'Mossad Collaborator' in Assassination of 'Nuclear Scientists'

The Tehran Public Prosecutor and Revolutionary Prosecutor announced the issuance of a death sentence for a 'Mossad agent' and identified him as guilty of collaborating in the assassination of several individuals involved in the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi stated on Tuesday, October 24, during the 14th meeting of the Tehran Prosecutor's Deputy Council, that the 'convicted individual' had collaborated with the Israeli intelligence service known as 'Mossad.' According to him, one of this individual's actions was 'providing the addresses and some details of thirty prominent individuals involved in research, military, and nuclear projects, including martyrs Shahriari and Ali-Mohammadi, to Mossad intelligence officers, which led to their assassination.' According to ISNA news agency, the Tehran Prosecutor claims that the condemned individual 'held multiple meetings with more than eight Mossad intelligence officers' and 'transferred information related to military site activities, the Atomic Energy Organization, and many other sensitive information in exchange for payment and obtaining residency in Sweden.' Mr. Dolatabadi did not mention the name or nationality of this 'Mossad agent.' However, it seems he is referring to 'Ahmadreza Jalali,' an Iranian researcher residing in Sweden. Amnesty International, which called for the annulment of his death sentence on Monday, stated that 'one of Ahmadreza Jalali's lawyers, who has seen the court ruling, said that it states Mr. Jalali was collaborating with the Israeli government, which helped him obtain residency in Sweden.' Jalali, who had been living in Sweden since 2009, was working in crisis management research at Karolinska University near Stockholm. He has been imprisoned since May 25, 2022, on charges of 'espionage' and 'collaboration with a hostile government.' In previous years, Jalali had traveled to Iran at the invitation of educational and academic institutions. The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence announced on June 14, 2012, that it had identified and arrested the 'main agents' behind the assassination of 'nuclear scientists.' In a statement, this security ministry referred to the 'identification of a number of Israeli intelligence officers' without naming the arrested individuals. In March of that year, the Tehran Public Prosecutor announced the issuance of indictments for 18 individuals accused in the 'nuclear scientists assassination case' the following year, stating that these individuals had collaborated with U.S. and Israeli intelligence services. Mr. Dolatabadi also did not disclose the names or nationalities of the accused that year. Five individuals involved in the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, whom Tehran refers to as 'nuclear scientists,' were assassinated between 2010 and 2012. The assassination of four of these individuals, namely Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, Majid Shahriari, Dariush Rezaei-Nejad, and Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, resulted in their deaths, and the assassination of Fereydoun Abbasi Davani, the former head of the Atomic Energy Organization, resulted in his injury. Following these assassinations, Iran's security apparatus arrested an individual named 'Majid Jamali Fashi' in late 2010 on charges of assassinating Saeed Ali-Mohammadi. He was sentenced to death in September 2011, and his sentence was carried out on May 15, 2012. Iranian officials, including Ayatollah Khamenei, repeatedly accused the governments of Israel, the U.S., and the U.K. of involvement in the assassination of Iran's 'nuclear scientists' during the years these assassinations occurred. In the fall of 1999, Iran also executed an individual named Ali Ashtari, who had previously been connected with some Iranian intelligence and military agencies, on charges of espionage for Mossad.