Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
An Iranian nuclear scientist was eliminated Friday in a drone strike targeting an apartment in central Tehran—marking at least the tenth killing of a figure linked to Iran’s nuclear program since direct hostilities with Israel began a week ago.
A senior Israeli official confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that the strike was a targeted assassination carried out by Israeli security forces. The official said the scientist, an expert in weapons systems, had been hiding in a safehouse outside his home. The official declined to reveal the scientist’s identity.
live
PlaybackManifestLoadError
Footage of drone strike in Tehran
Earlier, Iranian media reported that the drone targeted a site used by the Basij militia in the area. In parallel, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the IDF to escalate strikes on regime-linked targets in Tehran.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
"We must hit every symbol of the regime and the apparatuses of repression like the Basij, as well as the foundations of the regime’s power such as the Revolutionary Guards and trigger a broad evacuation of civilians from Tehran,” Katz said during a situational assessment with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other senior commanders.
Katz stressed that targeting regime symbols is essential "to destabilize the Iranian government and strengthen deterrence in the face of ongoing missile fire on Israel’s home front, alongside continued strikes on nuclear facilities and scientists to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions until all operational objectives are achieved."
Israel has so far taken responsibility for the elimination of nine Iranian nuclear scientists, some of whom were senior members of the so-called “weapon group” involved in nuclear weapons development. Iranian media, however, claim at least 14 scientists have been killed since the beginning of the fighting.