Assassinations, espionage and heists: How Israel has previously hit out at Iran

As Israel decides how to respond to Tehran’s drone and missile attack, Kim Sengupta details the more covert methods it has used against Iran

The scene where Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was shot dead east of Tehran in November 2020 (AP)

On the afternoon of 27 November 2020, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, regarded as the father of Iran’s nuclear programme, was travelling with his wife from Tehran to the resort city of Absard, accompanied by a security escort, when they were fatally ambushed.

Gunfire tore through the black Nissan Teana saloon as it crossed the Imam Khomeini Boulevard, hitting Fakhrizadeh, who was driving, in the shoulder and chest. He crawled out of the car to try to stop his wife from being hit, and was shot again. He died at the roadside.

The killing was carried out, according to varying accounts, either by a team of gunmen who had followed the convoy, or by a remote-controlled machine gun mounted on a truck, its trigger pulled a thousand miles away.