A top Iranian nuclear scientist, Mohammad Reza Seddiqi, who led the critical nuclear warhead project, was reportedly assassinated by Israel in his hometown, along with his family, just hours before a ceasefire, following an initial evasion of a strike in Tehran.
Mohammad Reza Seddiqi, a senior nuclear scientist and explosives expert, who Iran International reports was at the helm of Iran’s critical nuclear warhead development—the final stage in building an atomic bomb—was one of Israel’s primary assassination targets during the recent campaign in Iran.
Born in 1974 in Niaku, Gilan Province, Seddiqi was a faculty member at Malek Ashtar University of Technology, an institution linked to Iran’s Ministry of Defense and closely tied to SPND, the organization spearheading Iran’s weapons program. Holding a PhD in nuclear engineering from Amirkabir University, he was considered a key figure in the clandestine Amad Project, alongside high-profile officials like Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and Saeed Borji.
According to the report, Seddiqi miraculously survived an initial Israeli strike in Tehran at the conflict’s outset. However, he was later located and assassinated weeks afterward in his hometown, Astaneh-ye Ashrafiyeh, while seeking refuge at his father-in-law’s residence.
The fatal strike occurred on July 23 at 1:07 a.m.—less than three hours before a ceasefire officially came into effect. Israel launched three missiles toward Fath al-Mobin Alley on Ferdowsi Street in the city. Eyewitnesses reported hearing a fighter jet and a smaller aircraft just before the devastating impact. The attack not only killed Seddiqi but also his wife, children, and members of his wife’s family, who were reportedly used as human shields.
The report details that Seddiqi had initially fled to Tehran when hostilities began, only to return to his hometown in a desperate attempt to hide under the guise of a civilian vaccine researcher—a cover story intended to obscure his deep involvement in Iran’s highly secretive military program.
Over three decades, Seddiqi held pivotal roles in the development of advanced explosives, conducted extensive testing, and authored critical research on detonation and sabotage technologies. He headed Iran’s Advanced Chemical Materials Research Center and led Fishgaman Pardis, a front company notorious for supplying sensitive materials to the weapons program and linked to documents seized in the Mossad’s dramatic raid on Iran’s nuclear archive.
This high-profile assassination was reportedly part of a wider, coordinated operation that eliminated nine senior figures in Iran’s nuclear program on the very first day of the campaign, signaling Israel’s aggressive stance against Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
