An Iranian nuclear scientist has been killed by magnetic car bombs amid rising international tension over the country’s nuclear programme.
Professor Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan died after two assailants rode past on motorbikes and attached magnetic bombs under his car, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported.
The 32-year-old had reportedly been working at the controversial Natanz uranium enrichment facility.
It is the latest in a string of assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists, which the regime has blamed on Israel and the USA.
Iran has blamed the "Zionist regime" for the latest attack, with Safar Ali Bratloo, the deputy governor of Tehran province, declaring responsibility lies with the nation.
He added: “The method of this terrorist action is similar to previous actions that targeted Iran’s nuclear scientists.”
It is thought that attacks like these signal an effort to undermine Iran's nuclear programme. Both countries have denied being involved in the killings.
Safar Ali Baratloo, a senior security official, was quoted by Fars as saying:
"The magnetic bomb is of the same types already used to assassinate our scientists," he said. "The terrorist attack is a conspiracy to undermine the [2 March] parliamentary elections."
On January 12, 2010, a similar explosion killed Tehran University professor Masoud Ali Mohammadi.
Motorcycle-riding assassins shot Darioush Rezaeinejad in July 2011, who was reported to be a scientist involved in the country's nuclear programme according to initial Iranian sources. Later, Fars news agency said that Rezainejad was simply a university student.
Magnetic bombs are thought to be a sign of clandestine operations. Theodore Karasik, a security expert at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis told Associated Press.
"It's a very common way to eliminate someone," he added. "It's clean, easy and efficient."
"Instead of actually fighting a conventional war, western powers and their allies appear to be relying on covert war tactics to try to delay and degrade Iran's nuclear advancement,"
Israel has threatened to launch air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the past, while the US has claimed the country’s continuing nuclear programme represents a “further escalation” of its violation of UN resolutions.