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Iran’s top nuclear scientist was killed with a one-tonne remote-controlled gun smuggled into the country, it has emerged.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, known as the ‘father of the bomb’, was assassinated near Tehran, Iran in November by Israel’s spy agency Mossad.

The 59-year-old died in a burst of 13 bullets as he travelled with his wife and 12 bodyguards in Absard.

A hyper-accurate automated weapon was used for the attack, which did not harm his wife or any of his security team, according to the Jewish Chronicle.

The gun was reportedly mounted in a Nissan pickup, with agents operating it remotely as they watched the scientist.

It was said to have been used so civilians would be protected from collateral damage, and was smuggled into the country piece by piece over eight months.

The weapon was so heavy because it included a bomb which destroyed the evidence after the killing, the Chronicle reported.

It quoted sources saying the assassination partly worked as Iran’s security services had been watching suspected political dissenters.

Fakhrizadeh had long been suspected by the West of masterminding a secret nuclear bomb programme.

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He had been described by Western and Israeli intelligence services for years as the mysterious leader of a covert atomic bomb programme halted in 2003.

Israel and the United States have since accused Tehran of trying to restore the project.

Iran has long denied seeking to weaponise nuclear energy.

Jacob Nagel, one of Israel’s most senior defence officials, said the Mossad had documents proving Fakhrizadeh “had worked on several nuclear warheads, each one able to cause five Hiroshimas”.

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He added: “He was serious. He still meant to do what he planned.

“So someone decided that he had had enough time on earth.”

Iran is said to have concluded it will take six years before a replacement for him is fully operational.

And analysts in Israel reportedly believe the amount of time it would take Iran to achieve a bomb has gone from three-and-a-half months to two years.

The Chronicle reported the killing was carried out by Israel without any US involvement, with American officials only given a “little clue” before the attack.

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An Israeli government spokesman said: “We never comment on such matters.

“There has been no change in our position.'

At the time, Iran vowed to seek revenge over the killing.

• Iran
• Military

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