Iran's Top Nuclear Scientist Killed In Israeli Strikes Boasted He Wasn't Worried About Assassination

Fereidoun Abbasi, a former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, was among several military leaders and scientists killed in the unprecedented Israeli strikes. According to the New York Post, Abbasi had once boasted that he wasn't concerned about being assassinated and said he would gladly build nuclear weapons if asked. 

Abbasi, a key figure in Iran's nuclear development, survived a 2010 assassination attempt and had long been sanctioned by the United Nations for alleged involvement in covert nuclear weapons research. He had also defended Iran's nuclear efforts as peaceful and essential to national sovereignty. On Thursday, he was killed overnight as Israel struck the nation's terrifying nuclear program sites, Iranian officials confirmed. 

Following his demise, Abbasi's interview with an Iranian outlet last month has emerged, in which he had casually dismissed concerns about the possibility of being targeted. "What are we supposed to do about it?" he asked dismissively, saying his work on the nuclear program would live on with younger generations. According to the Post, he also stated that he would happily help build weapons if asked. 

"So far, we have not received orders to build (a nuclear bomb). If they tell me to build it, I will do it," Abbasi, a hardliner who also served as a member of parliament from 2020 to 2024, told Iran outlet SNN, per the outlet. 

"It is a mistake to set a time frame, whether six months, a month, a year, or a day," he said about the timeline for building a nuclear weapon. "Once the decision is made, you will need to make some small changes. If you work with uranium, you will need 90% enriched uranium. This level of enrichment can be achieved by laser, by electromagnetism, or by centrifuges," he continued. 

If Iran's nuclear infrastructure were destroyed, Abbasi said, "nothing would happen."

"Our capabilities are spread all over the country," he said, adding, "If they target the production sites, it will be inconsequential to our timetable."

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Notably, Israel launched unprecedented strikes against Iran on Friday, targeting the country's nuclear programme and several military leaders and nuclear scientists. Israel's military said that the strikes had caused significant damage. 

Key Iranian commanders were killed, including the chief of staff of the armed forces and the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Nuclear scientists Ali Shamkhani, Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, and four others were also killed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli attack was launched to protect the country from Iran's threat. The operation was meant to stop serious threats from Iran, but it would take several days to do this, reported The Guardian.

In retaliation, Iran launched 100 drones towards Israel, with the Israeli Military saying its air defences were intercepting them outside Israeli territory. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has warned Israel it faced a "bitter and painful" fate over the attacks.