Iran begins funeral for slain military nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh

Israel alleges that Fakhrizadeh was responsible for the creation of Iran’s nuclear weapons programme, evidenced by the fact that he met with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in January 2019, based on official pictures released after his death.

Following his assassination, Iran’s Security Chief Ali Shamkhani said the scientist had been in a target for the "enemy" for 20 years, but no further elaboration has been offered from the country.

The Iranian’s say that Fakhrizadeh was a senior official who "managed nuclear defence" and did "extensive work" in this field and played a "significant role in defence innovations", which is heavily disputed by Israel.

However, Fakhrizadeh has been suspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency since the early 2000s, even becoming the subject of UN sanctions in March 2007 as "persons involved in nuclear or ballistic missile activities" for Iran.

For a man dubbed by America as the Mossad’s number one target and the mastermind of Iran’s nuclear program, there’s not much anyone can say right now, with experts saying those who know of his involvement won’t talk and those who can won’t know.