Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was shot and killed in an ambush on Friday, November 27 th in the Damavand region of Iran. According to Iranian state media, Fakhrizadeh was attacked while travelling by car on a rural road in Absard, a suburb situated about 70 km east of the country’s capital, Tehran. While no one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, Iranian officials blame Israel. The murder comes at a time when tensions between the United States and Iran are magnified as a result of the Trump administration, whose withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and subsequent implementation of strict sanctions increased global anxiety about a potential war.