(JTA) — An Iranian man was sentenced to death for the murder of a nuclear scientist, an act for which Tehran blamed Israel.
Majid Jamali-Fashi confessed in court last week to the murder of Massoud Ali-Mohammadi in January 2010. He was sentenced Sunday in a Tehran court.
The physicist’s death was the first of four murders of nuclear scientists that Iran has blamed on Israeli and U.S. agents, accusing them of trying to prevent the Islamic Republic from going nuclear.
Iran’s chief prosecutor said that Jamali-Fashi was trained and paid by Israel. He was charged with "war against God" and with working for Israel, as well as with possession of drugs, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.
Jamali-Fashi has 20 days to appeal the sentence.
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