Iran: Nine people face death penalty for “colluding” with Israel to kill nuclear scientist

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Iran’s judiciary has announced that nine defendants are now facing the death penalty after being convicted of “colluding” with Israel to assassinate a top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh two years ago, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports. 

Fakhrizadeh was assassinated in November 2020 when his car was ambushed outside Tehran. Although Israel never officially confirmed it was responsible for the killing, former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen stated last year that Fakhrizadeh was considered a threat to Israeli security: Iran has long threatened Israel with annihilation, and successive Israeli governments have been adamant the Iranian Islamic regime should not be allowed to develop a nuclear bomb.

In any event, Iran has blamed Israel outright for Fakhrizadeh’s assassination, claiming it was carried out with a remote-controlled machine gun and a bomb, TOI reports. Fakhrizadeh had been the subject of US sanctions for helping to advance Iran’s nuclear program at the time of his death.

Confirming the convictions, Iranian judiciary spokesman Massoud Setayeshi said the nine defendants had been charged with “colluding with the purpose of disrupting national security” and with taking “actions against national security,” both capital offenses, TOI reports. 

Iran announced on Sunday that it had executed four people for allegedly working for Israel’s Mossad agency, TOI said.

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