Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan

Death of Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan

According to the semi-official Fars news agency, Ahmadi-Roshan, age 32, was a graduate of Sharif University. He supervised a department at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, located in Isfahan province, where he was a deputy director for commercial affairs. Citing the Fars News Agency, The Guardian reported that Ahmadi-Roshan was a chemistry expert specializing in: "making polymeric membranes for gaseous diffusion, part of the process needed for the enrichment of uranium."

The Fars News Agency reported that he and his driver, who later died in hospital from injuries sustained in the explosion, were killed by magnetic bombs attached to the car by two assailants. He was one of several Iranian nuclear scientists assassinated in recent years. The Iranian government has blamed Israel and the United States for the killings, the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization saying: "The heinous acts of America and the criminal Zionist regime will not disrupt our glorious path."

Several conservative newspapers in Iran called for retaliatory action against Israel. The daily Kayhan, supervised directly by the office of the Supreme Leader of Iran, wrote: "The Islamic republic has gathered much experience in 32 years, thus assassinations of Israeli officials and military members are achievable."

On 14 January 2012, Iran sent a diplomatic message to the United States government, through the Swiss embassy in Tehran, claiming that it had direct evidence of the CIA's involvement in the assassination of Ahmadi-Roshan.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denied any United States involvement, stating: "I want to categorically deny any United States involvement in any kind of act of violence inside Iran". Israeli President Shimon Peres was quoted as saying that, "to the best of [his] knowledge, Israel was not involved in the hit."

Following the assassination, the speaker of Israel's army said: "we do not shed tears for this murder". According to the Jerusalem Post the commander of Israel's army stated a day before the attack that 2012 is going to be a critical year for Iran filled with un-normal events.

A month after Ahmadi-Roshan's assassination, NBC News wrote:

Deadly attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists are being carried out by an Iranian dissident group that is financed, trained and armed by Israel’s secret service, U.S. officials tell NBC News, confirming charges leveled by Iran’s leaders. U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Obama administration is aware of the assassination campaign but has no direct involvement.

Ahmadi-Roshan's wife is Fatemeh Bolouri Kashani, a chemistry graduate from the Sharif University of Technology. Following his death, she told Fars News, "Mostafa's ultimate goal was the annihilation of Israel." She added that her spouse loved any resistance figure willing to fight the Zionist regime. Ahmadi-Roshan was buried on 13 January, 2012.

Reactions

In the wake of the assassination, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran, sent a message of condolence to Roshan's family saying that Iran will not stop working on its nuclear program.

The Natanz nuclear facility was officially renamed for him following his assassination.

On March 2012, Rahim Makhdoomi published a memoir about her son, Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, titled I, Mostafa's Mother (Persian: من مادر مصطفی‎‎ Man Madar-e Mostafa).).