Fereydoon Abbasi-Davani ( fa, فریدون عباسی دوانی; born 11 July 1958) is an Iranian nuclear scientist who was head of the
Atomic Energy Organization from 2011 to 2013. He survived an assassination attempt in 2010, but was seriously wounded. He is a
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
and
principlist
Principlism is an applied ethics approach to the examination of moral dilemmas that is based upon the application of certain ethical principles. This approach to ethical decision-making has been adopted enthusiastically in many different professio ...
politician.
Early life and education
Abbasi was born in
Abadan
Abadan ( fa, آبادان ''Ābādān'', ) is a city and capital of Abadan County, Khuzestan Province, which is located in the southwest of Iran. It lies on Abadan Island ( long, 3–19 km or 2–12 miles wide). The island is bounded ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, on 11 July 1958.
["Iranian 'nuclear scientist' killed"]
''Al Jazeera'', 29 November 2010 According to
Mashregh News
Mashregh News ( fa, مشرقنیوز, ) is a non-governmental news website in Iran. It has been described as "close to the security and intelligence organizations" but till now there have been no clear documents to prove claims. It is based in T ...
, an Iranian news website, he holds a PhD in
nuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter.
Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...
.
[
]
Career
Abbasi was a professor of nuclear physics at Shahid Beheshti University and has reportedly been a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He reportedly did nuclear research at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI). Prior to his appointment as head of the AEOI he chaired the physics department at Tehran's Imam Hossein University.[ISIS online report on Abbasi, 24 June 2011]
/ref>
Abbasi was appointed head of AEOI by then President of Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on 13 February 2011 to succeed Ali Akbar Salehi. In his tenure the AEOI was unwilling to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In fact in May 2011 Fereydoon Abbasi was the recipient of a letter from the IAEA, where its Director General Yukiya Amano reiterated the agency's concerns about the "existence of a possible military dimension" to Iran's nuclear programme and stressed the importance of clarifying these issues, requesting prompt access to relevant locations, equipment, documentation and persons. In June 2011 Abbasi replied evasively, so much so that the IAEA Director could only repeat his request for credible assurances.
Abbasi was removed from office on 16 August 2013 and subsequently replaced by Salehi.
Controversy
Abbasi has regularly been linked to Iran's alleged efforts to make the nuclear weapon, a process called weaponization. According to an Institute for Science and International Security report citing an expert close to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Abbasi was a key scientist in the alleged Iranian covert nuclear weapons program headed by Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi, a strong supporter of Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program. Abbasi personally directed work to calculate the yield of a nuclear weapon as well as work on high energy neutron sources, this expert added.[
According to the same report, the IAEA had information that Abbasi was the head of the Institute of Applied Physics (IAP), which was a follow-on organization to the Physics Research Center. Both of the organizations acted as fronts for scientific work on a possible Iranian nuclear weapons program.][
]
Designation by the UN
Abbasi is "listed in an annex to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1747 of 24 March 2007, as a person involved in Iran's nuclear or ballistic missile activities". This resolution imposes an asset freeze and travel notification requirements. Abbasi is described as a "Senior Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) scientist with links to the Institute of Applied Physics, working closely with Mahabadi (also designated by the UN).
Assassination attempt
On 29 November 2010, Abbasi was seriously wounded and narrowly survived an assassination attempt on a Tehran street, as a man on a motorbike attached a bomb to his car as he drove to work.[Iranian nuclear scientist killed in motorbike attack - BBC News]
/ref> A separate similar bomb attack the same day killed another scientist, Dr. Majid Shahriari, who also taught at Shahid Beheshti University.
''The Independent'', 30 November 2010
See also
* Atomic Energy Organization of Iran
References
External links
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbasi, Fereydoon
1958 births
Living people
People from Kazerun
Iranian physicists
International Atomic Energy Agency officials
Imam Hossein University faculty
Shahid Beheshti University alumni
YEKTA Front politicians
Presidents of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran
Iran–Israel proxy conflict
Failed assassination attempts in Asia