Nuclear expert killed by hitmen on motorbikes

A leading Iranian nuclear scientist was assassinated today by two men who attached a magnetic bomb to his car.

They sped alongside on motorcycles and planted the bombs before escaping. Two people were hurt.

Chemistry expert and a director of the Natanz uranium enrichment plant, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan died instantly after being thrown from the car. Iran immediately blamed the US and Israel for the assassination. No arrests have been made and witnesses said the killers executed their mission in seconds.

Israeli officials have hinted about covert campaigns against Iran without directly admitting involvement but have, along with the US, denied accusations of assassinations.

Mr Roshan's death is a bitter blow to Iran's nuclear programme. The 32-year-old was seen as one of the leading specialists on building polymeric layers for gas separation.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran escalated yesterday when the UN revealed it had discovered an underground uranium enrichment plant near Q'om. But Iran continues to deny it is planning to build nuclear weapons, saying the enrichment is for civilian purposes.

A similar attack two years ago killed Tehran University professor Masoud Ali Mohammadi, a senior physics professor. He died when a bomb-rigged motorcycle exploded near his car as he was about to leave for work. And in November 2010, back-to-back bomb attacks in the capital killed one nuclear scientist and wounded another.

Theodore Karasik, of the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, said: "Instead of actually fighting a conventional war, Western powers and their allies appear to be relying on covert war tactics to try to delay and degrade Iran's nuclear advancement."