ISRAEL'S DIRTY DOZEN

As Iran puts executed nuclear chief's body on display, how he was taken out: Power to the entire region was cut as gun and bomb attack blasted convoy before he was dragged from car and finished off... then the 12 assassins melted away

 

By Harriet Alexander and Jemma Carr 

Daily Mail

November 29, 2020

Remarkable detail of the elaborate plot to assassinate 'prominent and distinguished' Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh has been leaked - as the rogue nation claim Israel is behind the hit.

Fakhrizadeh - dubbed the 'father' of Iran's bomb programme - was shot dead in his car by 12 highly-trained assassins following an explosion in the city of Absard, 50 miles east of Tehran.

The killers - which included a pair of snipers - formed part of a 62-person strong group of plotters. The remaining 50 people were responsible for logistical support.

Extraordinary detail about Fakhrizadeh's final moments have been revealed by Iranian journalist Mohamad Ahwaze who claims he received leaked information from the country's authorities.

Fakhrizadeh's death sent tensions in the regions skyrocketing as Iran has repeatedly blamed Israel's national intelligence agency Mossad for the the assassination - with several prominent figures vowing revenge.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - who has the final say on all matters of state - yesterday said Iran's first priority after the killing was the 'definitive punishment of the perpetrators and those who ordered it.' He did not elaborate. 

And, in an intervention that risks inflaming conflict even further, a former head of the US's Central Intelligence Agency labelled the assassination a 'criminal' act and branded it 'highly reckless'.

John Brennan - who was director of the CIA from 2013 to 2017 under President Barack Obama - said he did not know who was to blame for the murder of Fakhrizadeh but said it was 'a criminal act and highly reckless'. 

He warned the killing 'risks lethal retaliation and a new round of regional conflict'.

One American official and two other intelligence officials also told the New York Times that Israel was behind the attack.  

Ahwaze said the attack was planned for for a roundabout in Absard, at the foot of a tree-lined boulevard which enters the city. 

The team had been watching Fakhrizadeh, and knew that he was going to be driving from Tehran to Absard on Friday. 

The mountain retreat of 10,000 people is where many well-off Tehranis have second homes, and Fakhrizadeh, 59, had a villa there.

The 12 assassins - described as being highly-trained and assisted by 'security and intelligence services abroad' - were deployed to Absard while the remaining 50 people in the 62-person strong group helped with logistical support. He did not specify whether they were in Iran, or abroad.  

A Hyundai Santa Fe with four passengers, four motorcyles and two snipers were waiting for Fakhrizadeh at the scene of the ambush - along with a booby-trapped Nissan pickup.

Half an hour before Fakhrizadeh's convoy of three bulletproof cars arrived, the electricity was cut off to the area, Ahwaze reported.  The team were in place when the first car passed the roundabout.  

As the third car passes, the Nissan explodes, damaging electricity poles and transmitters, according to a state TV report from the area on Friday night. 

The force of the explosion from the bomb hurled debris at least 300 meters, state television claimed.

The second car, containing Fakhrizadeh, was then shot at by the 12 assassins, including two snipers. 

The gunmen with the hit squad opened fire on the cars, and an intense gunfight ensued, according to Sepah Cybery, a social media channel affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Ahwaze tweeted: 'According to Iranian leaks, the leader of the assassination team took Fakhrizadeh out of his car and shot him and made sure he was killed.'

The hit squad then vanished, having sustained no losses to their team, Ahwaze reported. 

Residents told state television that they heard the sound of a big explosion followed by intense machine gun fire as Fakhrizadeh's bodyguards fought back. 

They knew the man they were protecting had for years been Mossad's number one target. 

A police helicopter landed in the area to transport Fakhrizadeh and others to the hospital, according to a video posted by a resident who narrates the video saying 'several people are dead.' 

When members of Fakhrizadeh's security detail arrived in hospital, they were surprised to find that there was no electricity, after the power had been cut. They are then transported to Tehran.

At 10:28am EST (7:30pm local time) on Friday, the Iranian foreign minister, Javad Zarif, said that 'an eminent Iranian scientist' had been killed, with the suspected aid of Israel.     

Fakhrizadeh's body lay in a flag-draped, open coffin at a mosque on Saturday in central Tehran, where Iran's chief justice, Ebrahim Raisi, prayed over his body in a public spectacle of mourning. 

His death sent tensions in the region skyrocketing as Iran accused Israel of trying to provoke a war by killing the scientist - who Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu once called out in a news conference saying: 'Remember that name'. 

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday called Fakhrizadeh 'the country's prominent and distinguished nuclear and defensive scientist.'

Khamenei - who has the final say on all matters of state - said Iran's first priority after the killing was the 'definitive punishment of the perpetrators and those who ordered it.' He did not elaborate. 

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The masters of 'wet work': Israeli agents are feared for covert assassination ops 

Israel has often favoured covert 'wet work' tactics against its enemies - including assassinations.

The country's national intelligence agency Mossad has been accused carrying out attacks on members of Palestinian fundamentalist group Hamas in recent years.

Prominent Iranian figures have also been targets - several of which have been nuclear scientists.

Within the agency is an elite unit known as Kidon - or 'tip of the spear - which is widely-understood to be responsible for assassinations. 

The group has been dubbed an 'an elite group of expert assassins' - but little is known about them or how they operate.

Alleged Mossad attacks tend to be quick and clean, including killings where the assassin is on the back of a motorcycle for an easy getaway. 

Mossad hits are also usually outside of Israel - further reducing the chances that the attacks will be tied to the state. 

Choosing the assassination target is a complicated process involving Mossad itself, the Israeli intelligence community and those in the highest seats of Government.

The military can also play a role in picking a target. 

Below are some alleged - and confirmed - attacks against Iranians by the Israeli state.

Februay 12, 2013 - Hassan Shateri - who went by the pseudonym Hussam Khoshnevisr - was a major general of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

He was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Syria.

January 11, 2012 - Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan was assassinated in a motorbike bomb attack in Tehran. Mossad are allegedly responsible.

November 12, 2011 - General Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam was killed - along with 17 other Revolutionary Guard members - in an explosion at a missile base in Tehran.

Moghaddam was the mind behind Iran's ballistic missile forces.

Iranian officials themselves have insisted the explosion was an accident and said there was no Israeli involvement - but some reports have accused Mossad of being behind it.

July 23, 2011 - Iranian electrical engineer Darioush Rezaeinejad was allegedly killed by a Mossad operative on a motorcycle in Tehran.

He helped to develop high-voltage switches used in nuclear weaponry.

January 12, 2010 - Iranian Physicist Masoud Alimohammadi was killed in a car bomb.

A man later appeared in court claiming Massad hired him to kill Alimohammadi. US officials rubbished the allegations.