The Fakhrizadeh assassination: A major failure for Iranian intelligence December 18, 2020 Share The assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the most important figure in Iran's nuclear program, in late November 2020 is a major failure for Iran's intelligence services. Fakhrizadeh was a general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the chief of the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND) at the Iranian Ministry of Defense, and was known as the head of the military section of Iran's nuclear program. Fakhrizadeh is no stranger to Iran’s political elite. In recent weeks, websites affiliated with the Iranian government have published images showing him secretly receiving a high-ranking award from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in 2016. That year, after the signing of the nuclear deal between Iran and the group of world powers known as the P5+1 (the U.S., U.K., France, China, Russia, and Germany), 28 Iranian officials involved in the deal and Iran's nuclear program were awarded medals and high honors. It now turns out that Fakhrizadeh and at least three other people received their medals in a closed room for security reasons, so as not to be in front of the cameras of photographers and journalists.