Inside Israel's killer truck that took out 'Iran's Oppenheimer' - How Mossad killed Iran's nuclear mastermind Mohsen Fakhrizadeh

Amid the intensifying Israel-Iran war and Israel's attacking Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists, the killing of Iran's top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh has gained attention.

Israel's Mossad intelligence agency pulled the assassination of Fakhrizadeh, who was also the former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation.

Once, he was known for saying that he would "gladly build nuclear weapons if asked". In 2010, he survived a targeted killing, however, was not able to survive the next one.

The killing of Fakhrizadeh reportedly involved the use of artificial intelligence and a remote controlled machine gun.

Who was he?

For very long, Western Intelligence believed Fakhrizadeh was the mastermind of "Project Amad", Iran's covert operation to build a nuclear bomb in the early 2000s.

Then, he became invisible, with no public speeches, interviews or photos. He was even called as Iran's Robert Oppenheimer.

He was also referred to as the "father of Iran's nuclear programme" by Western intelligence agencies and Israeli officials.

Later in 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flashed Fakhrizadeh's name on national TV during a dramatic reveal of stolen Iranian nuclear files. "Remember that name," he said.

Fakhrizadeh assassination

In 2020, Fakhrizadeh was travelling with his wife and bodyguards toward their villa in Absard, east of Tehran.

A convoy was following them at a distance. It was a normal routine drive.

On the roadside, there was a pickup truck waiting, kept aside abandoned. A one-ton automated weapon system was hidden in the parked Nissan pickup truck on the side of the road.

It was controlled remotely by Mossad agents who were operating from outside Iran, and the gun opened fire with deadly precision.

Inside the truck, there was a 7.62 mm FN MAG machine gun, rigged with facial recognition AI, satellite links and explosives.

Iranian official said that the weapon was linked via satellite to its operators, which were believed to be Israeli agents working outside the country.

As Fakhrizadeh's car slowed down at a speed breaker, the gun identified him and fired. He was shot multiple times and later died in the hospital.

However, no one else was injured due to its precision weapon.

The device had been smuggled into Iran in pieces and was assembled covertly by agents, including local collaborators. The planning happened for months and over 20 individuals were involved.