One of Israel's primary assassination targets during the recent campaign in Iran was Mohammad Reza Seddiqi, a senior nuclear scientist and explosives expert, who, according to a report by Iran International, headed the critical project for developing a nuclear warhead—the final phase in constructing an atomic bomb.
Born in 1974 in the village of Niaku in Gilan Province, Seddiqi served as a faculty member at Malek Ashtar University of Technology, an institution affiliated with Iran’s Ministry of Defense and closely linked to SPND, the organization leading Iran’s weapons program.
He held a PhD in nuclear engineering from Amirkabir University and was regarded as a key figure in the Amad Project, alongside senior officials such as Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and Saeed Borji.
According to the report, Seddiqi survived the initial Israeli strike in Tehran at the start of the war but was later located and assassinated weeks afterward in his hometown, Astaneh-ye Ashrafiyeh, while staying at his father-in-law’s residence.
On July 23 at 1:07 a.m.—less than three hours before a ceasefire came into effect—Israel launched three missiles toward Fath al-Mobin Alley on Ferdowsi Street in the city.
Eyewitnesses reported hearing sounds of a fighter jet and a smaller aircraft shortly before the strike. The attack killed Seddiqi, his wife, children, and members of his wife’s family, who were reportedly used as human shields.
The report states that Seddiqi initially fled to Tehran at the onset of hostilities but returned to his hometown, hoping to hide under the civilian guise of a vaccine researcher—a cover meant to obscure his involvement in Iran’s military program.
Over a span of three decades, he held pivotal roles in the development of advanced explosives, conducted testing, and authored research on detonation and sabotage technologies. He headed Iran's Advanced Chemical Materials Research Center and led Fishgaman Pardis, a front company supplying sensitive materials to the weapons program and linked to documents uncovered in the Mossad’s seizure of Iran’s nuclear archive.
The assassination was reportedly part of a wider operation that eliminated nine senior figures in Iran’s nuclear program on the first day of the campaign.