<p class="bodytext">Prominent Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, killed in an attack outside Tehran on Friday, was widely seen outside the country as a leading figure in the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme. Iran denies his involvement.</p>.<p class="bodytext"><strong>What is known about him?</strong></p>.<p class="bodytext">Western officials and experts believe Fakhrizadeh played a pivotal role in suspected Iranian work in the past to develop the means to assemble a nuclear warhead behind the facade of a declared civilian uranium enrichment programme.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Iran denies ever having sought to develop a nuclear weapon.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A landmark report by the UN nuclear watchdog in 2011 identified Fakhrizadeh as a central figure in suspected Iranian work to develop technology and skills needed for atomic bombs, and suggested he may still have a role in such activity.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Believed to be a senior officer in the elite Revolutionary Guards, Fakhrizadeh was the only Iranian the report identified.</p>.<p class="bodytext"><strong>What does Iran say?</strong></p>.<p class="bodytext">The UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has long wanted to meet Fakhrizadeh as part of a protracted investigation into whether Iran carried out illicit nuclear weapons research.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Showing no sign it would heed the request, Iran acknowledged Fakhrizadeh’s existence several years ago but said he was an army officer not involved in the nuclear programme, according to a diplomatic source with knowledge of the matter.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He was also named in a 2007 UN resolution on Iran as a person involved in nuclear or ballistic missile activities.</p>.<p class="bodytext"><strong>What is known about his background?</strong></p>.<p class="bodytext">An exiled Iranian opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), in May 2011 issued a report with what it said was a photograph of Fakhrizadeh, with dark hair and beard stubble. It was not possible to independently verify the picture.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The NCRI said in the report that Fakhrizadeh was born in 1958 in the holy Shi’ite Muslim city of Qom, was a deputy defence minister and a Revolutionary Guards brigadier-general, and holds a nuclear engineering doctorate and taught at Iran’s University of Imam Hussein.</p>
<p class="bodytext">Prominent Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, killed in an attack outside Tehran on Friday, was widely seen outside the country as a leading figure in the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme. Iran denies his involvement.</p>.<p class="bodytext"><strong>What is known about him?</strong></p>.<p class="bodytext">Western officials and experts believe Fakhrizadeh played a pivotal role in suspected Iranian work in the past to develop the means to assemble a nuclear warhead behind the facade of a declared civilian uranium enrichment programme.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Iran denies ever having sought to develop a nuclear weapon.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A landmark report by the UN nuclear watchdog in 2011 identified Fakhrizadeh as a central figure in suspected Iranian work to develop technology and skills needed for atomic bombs, and suggested he may still have a role in such activity.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Believed to be a senior officer in the elite Revolutionary Guards, Fakhrizadeh was the only Iranian the report identified.</p>.<p class="bodytext"><strong>What does Iran say?</strong></p>.<p class="bodytext">The UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has long wanted to meet Fakhrizadeh as part of a protracted investigation into whether Iran carried out illicit nuclear weapons research.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Showing no sign it would heed the request, Iran acknowledged Fakhrizadeh’s existence several years ago but said he was an army officer not involved in the nuclear programme, according to a diplomatic source with knowledge of the matter.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He was also named in a 2007 UN resolution on Iran as a person involved in nuclear or ballistic missile activities.</p>.<p class="bodytext"><strong>What is known about his background?</strong></p>.<p class="bodytext">An exiled Iranian opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), in May 2011 issued a report with what it said was a photograph of Fakhrizadeh, with dark hair and beard stubble. It was not possible to independently verify the picture.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The NCRI said in the report that Fakhrizadeh was born in 1958 in the holy Shi’ite Muslim city of Qom, was a deputy defence minister and a Revolutionary Guards brigadier-general, and holds a nuclear engineering doctorate and taught at Iran’s University of Imam Hussein.</p>