IRAN: Remote-controlled bomb kills nuclear physicist

A remote-controlled bomb killed a Tehran University physics professor near his home early on Tuesday in what Iranian authorities called an assassination backed by Western powers, including the US and Israel, write Farnaz Fassihi and Chip Cummins for The Wall Street Journal. The victim was identified as 50-year-old Masoud Ali Mohammadi.

Official news reports described Mohammadi as devout, loyal to the Islamic Republic and to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He belonged to the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from 1980 to 2003, according to the official Iranian Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the IRGC.

But before the 12 June presidential election, opposition websites published Mohammadi's name on a list of 240 Tehran University teachers who backed opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. The killing of a long-time

The bombing that killed the physics professor is rare for Tehran. That the target was a long-time regime insider who had veered towards supporting the opposition, and a member of Iran's nuclear-science brains trust, raised suspicion among colleagues and students that the attack was politically motivated.
Full report on The Wall Street Journal site
See also this report on the Frontline website