Iran: ‘Smart satellite-controlled machinegun’ killed scientist

The weapon used in the assassination was placed on a pick-up truck and operated remotely via a video camera, official says. The killing of Iran’s top nuclear scientist last month was carried out remotely with artificial intelligence and a machinegun equipped with a “satellite-controlled smart system”, a senior commander has said. “No terrorists were present on the ground … Martyr Fakhrizadeh was driving when a weapon using an advanced camera zoomed in on him,” Tasnim, a semiofficial news agency, quoted Ali Fadavi, deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as saying at a ceremony on Sunday. Last week Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, said the killing was carried out with “electronic devices” with no people on the ground. “It would appear that those who were responsible for his security are now coming up with reasons for not having fulfilled that mission.” Fakhrizadeh, identified by Israel as a prime player in what it says is a continuing Iranian quest for a nuclear weapon, was the fifth Iranian nuclear scientist killed in targeted attacks since 2010 inside Iran, and the second slaying of a high-ranking Iranian official in 2020.