Iranian Academic Confesses to Spying for Israel on Assassinated Nuclear Scientists

Ahmad Reza Jalali, in a 17-minute program aired by Iranian State TV on Sunday, said during his studies in a European country, a man he identified as "Thomas" approached him with a job offer and ultimately recruited him to that country's foreign intelligence service. He added that the service promised to make him a citizen of the country.

He did not name the country, but the broadcast carried images of a Swedish ID card and Rome's Colosseum.

Jalali added that he also worked for Iran's Defense Ministry, and that the foreign intelligence service he worked for had threatened to reveal his dual role if he did not continue to comply with them.

In the report the narrator said Jalili gathered information on physics scientists Masoud Ali Mohammadi and nuclear scientist Majid Shariari who both were assassinated in 2010. He adds that Jalali met with officers from Israel's Mossad intelligence agency abroad over 50 times and received 2,000 Euros per meeting.

”They were showing me pictures of some people or satellite photos of nuclear facilities and were asking me to give them information about that,” Jalali said in the television report.

Djalali was arrested in Iran in April 2016 and later convicted of espionage.

The report also contained interviews with Majid Jamali Fashi, who was assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists.

Fashi also confessed on Iranian state television in 2012 that he was trained for the operation at a Mossad facility near Tel Aviv. He wsa executed in the same year.

Mohammad Reza Jalali was also sentenced to death in October 2017.

Iran security forces have arrested at least 30 dual nationals during the past two years, mostly on spying charges.