An Iranian nuclear scientist who died in mysterious circumstances at a military site near the Parchin nuclear facility outside Tehran met his death in an act of "industrial sabotage," an Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander was quoted on Monday as saying.
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Hassani Ahangar, head of the Imam Khomenei University, which serves IRGC cadets, told the semi-official Entekhab news agency that "The martyr from the Ministry of Defense was himself not the target but was affected by an act of industrial sabotage. We must prevent such threats with artificial intelligence methods.
Ahangar did not name the entity he believed to be responsible for the alleged sabotage.
Satellite images taken after the blast at Parchin at the end of May showed significant damage to the facility, which houses several industrial and research units. Western security services believe Iran carried out tests related to nuclear bomb detonations more than a decade ago.
In the summer of 2020, another unexplained blast struck the Parchin facility and sent a fireball into the sky that was visible from Tehran, which also felt the shockwaves.
"Engineer Ehsan Ghadbeigi was martyred and one of his colleagues was injured in an accident that took place in one of the Ministry of Defense's research units at the Parchin area on May 25 [2021]," Entekhab added.
Ghadbeigi was one of several scientists involved in Iran's nuclear and aerospace programs to die in apparent accidents in the past few months.
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