Der Spiegel Reports Mossad Killed Iranian Nuclear Scientist

B”H

Yes . . . because if I were an Israeli super-spy, the first place I would go to tell my story would be a German newspaper that has a rabid hatred of Israel. 

Riiiiight.

Well, I hope Der Spiegel sells a lot of papers because that is the only thing that will come from this story.

Sure, I want to believe, wholeheartedly, that the Mossad took out the Iranian scientists . . . but that is just wish fulfillment, isn’t it?  I want to believe it because it gives me the “I want to read the next Tom Clancy novel about it”  tingle.

However, I am greatly doubting both the veracity of the reporter and the veracity of his source (for those of you who believe this story, “veracity” means “truth,” OK?  Now, go take your pill.).

M

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'Der Spiegel': Mossad behind Iran scientist assassination
By JPOST.COM STAFF
08/02/2011 11:00  
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=232044 
 
       
 Der Spiegel reported on Monday that the Mossad was behind the assassination of Darioush Rezaie, an Iranian nuclear scientist who was murdered on July 23.

The German news magazine quoted an unnamed Israeli intelligence source as saying that the move was the first act of the new head of the Mossad, Tamir Pardo.

Rezaie, who was fatally shot by a motorcyclist, is the fourth known Iranian nuclear scientist to be killed since 2010. Der Spiegel  noted that each of the other three, Masood Ali Mohammadi (January 2010), Majid Schahriari and Feridun Abbasi (November 2010), was killed by either motorcycle riding gunmen or motorcycle bombs.

An International Atomic Energy Agency investigation showed that Rezaie held  a Ph.D. in physics and was working on developing a nuclear switch used for detonating nuclear weapons, according to the Der Spiegel report.

The German magazine wrote that while Iran accuses the United States and Israel of hiring hitmen to carry out various attacks inside Iran, Washington denies any involvement and Israel is silently ambiguous. However, a purported smile on the face of Defense Minister Ehud Barak when refusing to speculate on the killing gave the Der Spiegel reporter who wrote the story reason to believe he was hiding something.

Although Israel maintains a strict policy of ambiguity when it comes to Mossad operations, the Israeli spy agency was widely believed to have been involved in creating and planting the Stuxnet computer virus, which  crippled Iranian nuclear research facilities during the summer of 2010. 

According to the Der Spiegel article, the Mossad and Israel Air Force (IAF) are competing for both the privilege and the funding to attack the Iranian nuclear program. Each claims that the other is incapable of effectively delaying, let alone destroying Iran's ability to attain nuclear weapons.