Episode 161 - Assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh

Executive Protection and Secure Transportation Podcast

The topic for this week’s episode is an outline of the assassination of Iranian Senior Nuclear Scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, dubbed the father of the Iranian nuclear program, held the rank of brigadier general in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to intelligence reports, he was responsible for Iran's development of nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles.

On Friday, November 27th, 2020, at 2:15 PM, Fakhrizadeh was ambushed while traveling in an armored Nissan Teana on a rural road in Absard.

In the past, we've conducted many forensic analyses on attacks similar to the attack on Fakhrizadeh. But analyzing this ambush was a challenge. The open-source pictures and explanations and reported information on how the attack occurred did not match the data gathered from Google Map images.

Reports on how, where, and who conducted the ambush varied from completely automated facial recognition satellite remote control machine gun mounted in a pickup truck with no attacker's present – to 12 attackers and a pick-up truck, motorcycle, two snipers plus 40 to 50 support personnel.

We know for sure that the principal was in the middle vehicle of a three-car convoy. He was sitting in the back seat of the armored Nissan Teana sedan. The Nissan Teana is a vehicle used by officials of the Iranian defense ministry. His three-vehicle convoy consisted of a lead security car, the Principal's vehicle, and a follow vehicle.

The convoy left the highway and turned onto Absard Rd., a two-lane road leading into the town of Absard.

What is also known is that his security team was warned that there could be an attempt on his life; other reports mentioned that they were also notified that they were under surveillance.

Many conflicting accounts came out of Iran concerning the assassination, but there are common elements to all of them when reviewing the reports.