| Ardeshir Hosseinpour | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1962 Bristol, England |
| Died | 15 January 2007 Tallahassee, Florida, USA |
| Residence |
United States |
| Nationality | Iranian |
| Fields | Electrical Physics and Engineering |
| Institutions | Nuclear Technology Center of Iran Shiraz University |
| Alma mater | Shiraz University, Iran |
| Known for |
Electromagnetism |
| Notable awards | Khwarizmi International Award (2006) |
Dr. Ardeshir Hosseinpour [1](Persian: اردشير حسين پور , b. 1962 – d. 15 January 2007) was an Iranian junior scientist, assistant professor, and authority on electromagnetism.[2] He was also involved in the Iranian nuclear program.[2][3][4] Hosseinpour died mysteriously in early 2007 during his nuclear work at Isfahan.
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Dr. Hosseinpour held a B.S. degree in electrical engineering and a Ph.D. degree in electrical physics from Shiraz University in 2002.[5] He was an assistant materials science professor of Shiraz University, and also taught at the Malek Ashtar University of Technology in Isfahan.
In 2005, he co-founded[6] and continued his research at the Nuclear Technology Center of Isfahan.[3] He continued his research there until his death on January 15, 2007.
There are conflicting reports as to the cause of Hosseinpour's death. His death was not reported until six days after the event, first by the Al-Quds daily and the Iranian Students' News Agency. American Radio Farda (broadcasting in Persian) originally reported that he died due to "gassing".[7]
The US private intelligence company Stratfor released a report on 2 February 2007 which claimed that "Hosseinpour was in fact a Mossad target" based on "sources close to Israeli intelligence."[4][6] Stratfor also reported that the cause of death was "radioactive poisoning."[2] The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that a "website of expatriate Iranian communists" had claimed that several other scientists were killed or injured in the same incident, and treated in nearby hospitals.[2]
Stratfor added that:
"Decapitating a hostile nuclear program by taking out key human assets is a tactic that has proven its effectiveness over the years, particularly in the case of Iraq. In the months leading up to the 1981 Israeli airstrike on Iraq's Osirak reactor -- which was believed to be on the verge of producing plutonium for a weapons program -- at least three Iraqi nuclear scientists died under mysterious circumstances."[6]
Despite these reports, the "semi-official"[8] Fars News Agency reported that an unnamed informed source in Tehran told them that Hosseinpour was not involved in the nuclear facility at Isfahan, and that he "suffocated by fumes from a faulty gas fire in sleep."[9] The report of an assassination was also denied by Gholamreza Aghazadeh, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, who said that Iranian nuclear experts "are sound and safe."[10] Mossad sources, including Meir Amit, the former head of the agency, also told the San Francisco Chronicle that the claim of assassination is "baseless" and "goes against all known modus operandi of the agency."[11]
On February 14, Stratfor again reported on the Hosseinpour death, warning that a reprisal attack by Iran against Israeli or Jewish targets around the world would come four to six weeks later if historical patterns hold true.[12] According to an investigative work by an Italian journalist, Ardeshir Hosseinpour sympathised with Khatami, and may have been killed because he wanted to defect.[13]