The report by The Jewish Chronicle on the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, which claims that the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad used a one-ton gun smuggled into Iran in pieces to carry out the ambush, highlights the continuing tensions between Iran and Israel. The report alleges that a team of more than 20 agents, including Israeli and Iranian nationals, were involved in the eight-month-long operation that culminated in Fakhrizadeh’s death. The report has not been independently verified by Reuters.

Fakhrizadeh was gunned down in his car near Tehran in November 2020, and Iranian officials immediately pointed the finger at Israel. While Israel did not confirm or deny its involvement in the assassination at the time, the Jewish Chronicle report has reignited the debate on the role played by Israel in Fakhrizadeh’s killing. The report claims that the bespoke weapon used in the assassination was operated remotely by agents on the ground as they observed the target. It was so heavy that it included a bomb that destroyed the evidence after the killing, the report said.

Fakhrizadeh had long been suspected by the West of being the mastermind behind a secret nuclear bomb program. His death had been seen as a major blow to Iran’s nuclear program, and it was widely believed that it would take Iran years to recover from the loss. According to the Jewish Chronicle’s report, Iran has “secretly assessed that it will take six years” before a replacement for Fakhrizadeh is “fully operational” and that his death had “extended the period of time it would take Iran to achieve a bomb from about three-and-a-half months to two years.” Fakhrizadeh was a professor of physics at the Imam Hossein University and a senior member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as well as a top scientist in Iran’s nuclear program. He was widely known as the founder and director of the Physics Research Center (PHRC), an organization that oversees Iran’s nuclear program.

The assassination has added to the already high tensions between Iran and Israel, and the wider Middle East region. While Iran has always maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful, Israel has long accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons. The assassination of Fakhrizadeh, who was viewed as the father of Iran's nuclear program, has been seen as a major blow to Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The report by The Jewish Chronicle also raises questions about the involvement of the United States in the assassination. While the report claims that the operation was carried out by Israel alone, it also suggests that U.S. officials were given some form of notice beforehand. The role played by the United States in the assassination, if any, remains unclear.

The killing of Fakhrizadeh has been condemned by Iran and has led to a further escalation of tensions between Iran and Israel. While Israel has remained tight-lipped on the issue, the report by The Jewish Chronicle has once again brought the issue of the assassination to the forefront. The allegations made in the report are serious, and it remains to be seen how the situation will develop in the coming months.