Israel says 14 Iranian nuclear scientists were killed in targeted strikes aimed at halting Tehran's nuclear weapons programme. The covert operation marks a major escalation in Israel’s efforts to disrupt Iran’s atomic ambitions.

Deliberately targeting scientists in this way aims to disrupt Iran’s knowledge base and continuity in nuclear expertise. Among those assassinated were Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, a theoretical physicist and head of Iran’s Islamic Azad University, and Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, a nuclear engineer who led Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization.

Ever since Iran’s uranium-enrichment program was first revealed in 2002, American presidents have said they are determined to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Iran h