Israel killed at least 14 Iranian scientists in a series of targeted operations aimed at crippling Iran’s nuclear weapons programme, Israel’s ambassador to France Joshua Zarka reportedly confirmed this week.

According to Zarka, the individuals killed were not targeted for merely being physicists or academics, but because of their alleged direct involvement in developing nuclear weapons. 

In his remarks to the Associated Press, the ambassador stated that these scientists were “not killed because they knew physic”, but rather because of the roles they played in the “creation, fabrication, and production” of nuclear arms.