The AI Hit Job: How Israel Used A Remote-Controlled Gun To Kill Iran’s Top Nuclear Scientist

8 months ago 15

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Last Updated:June 18, 2025, 17:46 IST

Western intelligence believed Mohsen Fakhrizadeh had led "Project Amad," Iran's covert nuclear weapons initiative in the early 2000s.

Often described as the architect of Iran’s nuclear program, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was gunned down on November 27, 2020.

The June 13 Israeli airstrike that killed Fereidoun Abbasi, the former head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, has once again brought Tehran’s nuclear ambitions to light. But Fereidoun Abbasi’s death also revives global memory of one of the most audacious and high-tech assassinations in modern espionage history- the 2020 killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

Who Was Mohsen Fakhrizadeh?

Often described as the architect of Iran’s nuclear program, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was gunned down on November 27, 2020, in a quiet countryside town east of Tehran by an AI-powered machine gun hidden inside a parked truck and reportedly operated remotely.

Western intelligence believed Mohsen Fakhrizadeh had led “Project Amad," Iran’s covert nuclear weapons initiative in the early 2000s. He had a secretive profile until Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly unveiled documents allegedly stolen from Iran’s nuclear archive in 2018. At the time, Netanyahu singled out Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and said, “Remember that name."

How Israel Killed Mohsen Fakhrizadeh?

When Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and his wife were driving from their seaside home to their villa in Absard, about 80 km east of Tehran, they were part of a small convoy with several security vehicles. As they entered Absard, they passed a construction zone where a Nissan Zamyad pickup truck was parked inconspicuously with a 7.62 mm FN MAG machine gun- enhanced with satellite uplinks, AI facial recognition and rigged with explosives- inside it.

It was reported that Mossad agents smuggled the weapon into Iran in parts and assembled it near the site, controlling it remotely from an undisclosed location. The final ambush sequence began when a dog appeared on the road owing to which Mohsen Fakhrizadeh’s car slowed. The AI-guided weapon then opened fire, piercing the windshield and hitting him in the shoulder. When he stepped out, attempting to take cover, the system recalibrated and fired again.

Brigadier General Ali Fadavi of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said, “The system used artificial intelligence and facial recognition to target Fakhrizadeh with precision."