Mohsen Fakhrizadeh Mahabadi was an Iranian nuclear physicist and senior military officer, a brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), widely regarded as the architect and mastermind behind Iran's covert nuclear weapons program. Born on March 21, 1961, in Qom, Iran, he earned a doctorate in physics and served as head of the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND) from 2008 until his death. He was sanctioned by the UN, US, and EU for his role in activities potentially related to nuclear weaponization, including coordinating experiments with possible military dimensions as detailed in IAEA reports. Western intelligence agencies accused him of leading Project Amad, Iran's covert nuclear weapons effort in the early 2000s, though Iran denied these claims, asserting his work was for peaceful purposes. Operating in secrecy, he earned the moniker 'Iran's Oppenheimer' for his pivotal role in advancing Iran's nuclear capabilities, and was also involved in biotechnology and missile programs. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly identified him in 2018 as central to Iran's nuclear ambitions. On November 27, 2020, Fakhrizadeh was assassinated near Tehran in a sophisticated operation involving a remote-controlled machine gun, which Iran attributed to Israeli intelligence, widely believed to have been targeted through intelligence gathered by Israeli units including Unit 8200. He left behind a wife and six children, and his death was mourned by Iranian leaders as a martyrdom.