DIETER BEDNARZ AND RONEN BERGMAN An unexplained fire, disappearing scientists and attacks on prominent Iranian nuclear experts: The Israeli secret service Mossad seems to be waging a shadowy war on Tehrans nuclear programme. Will it be enough to stop Irans alleged drive to develop atomic weapons? The young man in the spotlight appeared earnest and friendly, wearing a blue sweater and a freshly ironed shirt, his hair carefully combed. He seemed to want to project an air of credibility. He sat in a brown leather swivel chair and steepled his fingertips in a manner often favoured by politicians, before starting to speak. My name is Majid Jamali Fash, he introduced himself to viewers of Irans state-run television last Monday. My first contact with the Israeli intelligence agency was in Istanbul three years ago. A man named Radfur approached me and suggested I visit the Israeli consulate. These words opened the most spectacular confession ever shown on Iranian TV. Such self-incriminations, whether uttered by arrested members of the opposition or by foreign journalists, are far from a rare occurrence here. But Jamalis statements are unique in that this is the first time an Iranian has publicly admitted to committing murder in the countrys capital on orders from Irans archenemy, Israel. Jamali says he killed nuclear physicist Massoud Ali Mohammadi using a remote-controlled bomb on Jan 12 last year, following precise planning and intensive training by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad. The alleged perpetrators confession is simultaneously an admission on the part of the regime that a shadowy war over its nuclear programme has begun. Strategists at international security policy think-tanks are debating with increasing intensity when the time might come that Israel, with or without American help, will launch a military strike against Irans suspected nuclear weapon production facilities. But the real question is now a different one: Has political pressure from the international community combined with clandestine activities on the part of Israel and the US managed to delay such a strike? Have Mossads attacks damaged the Irans nuclear programme to such a degree that it would now be impossible for the Islamic Republic to build a nuclear bomb earlier than 2015? One wonders if Israels shadow war should be celebrated for reducing the chances of such an Armageddon. Meir Dagan, the former head of Mossad, retired late last year after eight years in office. Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon named Dagan Israels highest commander in the covert war against Irans nuclear ambitions and Dagan concentrated his attention on precisely this mission. The effectiveness of his covert operations can be seen in the accidents and setbacks that have repeatedly stalled Irans nuclear programme since then. Important scientists have disappeared without a trace, an unexplained fire broke out in a laboratory and an airplane belonging to the nuclear programme crashed. In recent months, a computer worm called Stuxnet wreaked havoc on central control systems for the centrifuges at Irans uranium enrichment facility in Natanz. The full scope of the damage from the worm is not yet known. Before leaving his post, Dagan spoke privately about his view of the situation. Unlike other Israelis, he doesnt believe Iran will be able to build a nuclear bomb before 2015 - and it could even be later than that. Dagans message is clear - he opposes war with Iran, which he fears could escalate into all-out conflagration consuming the entire Middle East. He recommends continued covert operations instead, with which he implies Mossad could continue to delay Irans creation of a bomb indefinitely. Mossads attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists right in the centre of Tehran has cast a spotlight on Israels shadowy war. Majid Jamalis confession is a particular indication that the assassinations were the result of long-term planning and careful preparation. Jamali is said to have received his first instructions at the Israeli consulate in Istanbul. I talked to men there, who sat behind darkened windows. They questioned me and wanted me to obtain information on certain parts of Tehran for them, he says. Jamali says he returned to Iran before delivering 30 handwritten pages full of details on his second visit to Turkey. My contacts were very pleased with my work, he adds. Then, he says, his real training began. After various meetings in Europe and Thailand, he allegedly received the first installment of his payment for the assassination - $30,000. A further sum of $20,000 was to be paid after the attack. Jamali says he received the crucial parts of his training in Israel, where Israeli agents simulated the Iranian physicists house and street in a military camp near the highway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Mossad also provided a Honda 125 motorcycle, a small and easily manouevrable vehicle common in Tehran. The plan was for Jamali to later outfit a motorcycle of the same model with a bomb, to be detonated in front of Mohammadis house. According to his confession, Jamali also received shooting lessons and a makeup artist taught him how to disguise himself with clothes and makeup. In the last phase of training, they did three run-throughs of his mission. Back in Tehran, he says, other Mossad collaborators provided the necessary equipment. The motorcycle was standing ready, as was the bomb, and he received gloves and motorcycle clothing in two cardboard boxes. His equipment also included two satellite phones - on one of those phones he received orders on the early morning of Jan. 12 to carry out the attack. Jamali placed the motorcycle, outfitted with the bomb, on the drivers side of the physicists driveway and detonated it as Mohammadi left his home that morning. The force of the blast was so powerful that it caused heavy flagstones to fall from the front of a four-story apartment building across the way and all the windows to burst. Mohammadis car was completely destroyed and he died instantly. Dagans secret assistants in Tehran appear to have carried out an operation that was similarly logistically intricate late last year, with a simultaneous double attack on two nuclear scientists, Majid Shahriari and Fereydoon Abbasi Davani. Like Mohammadi, both men belonged to Irans nuclear research elite. Officially, Shahriari worked as a professor of nuclear physics at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran. His specialty was neutron transport, a process that plays a central role in chain reactions within reactors, but also in the construction of nuclear bombs. Abbasi taught in the same department and was one of the countrys very few experts on isotope separation. On November 29, Shahriari and Abbasi were both making their way to the university, as they did nearly every day. Shortly after 8am, Shahriari was in his Peugeot sedan together with his wife, battling his way through the usual traffic on the Artesh Highway in the northern part of the city. He didnt pay particular attention when a motorcycle drove up close to the drivers side of his car - such chaos is simply part of life on Tehrans overcrowded streets. By the time the motorcyclist attached something to Shahriaris door and sped away, it was too late. The bomb, affixed to the car with a magnet, exploded a few seconds later. Shahriari died instantly, but his wife survived the attack. His colleague Abbasi was more attentive and reacted more quickly, which saved his life. The professor, also travelling with his wife, had just driven away from his home when he noticed a motorcyclist squeeze in close to his vehicle and stick something to the drivers side door. Abbasi, a long-time member of the Revolutionary Guards, braked immediately and launched himself out of the car, dragging his wife from the passenger seat and taking cover with her on the roadside, just fractions of a second before the device exploded. Photographs of the scientists destroyed cars made headline news the next day, and not just in Iran. News of the attacks caused a commotion around the world, including in Israel. The same day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intention to allow Mossad head Meir Dagan to retire. The mass-circulation Israeli daily Israel HaYom ran pictures of the attack in Tehran headlined with the question, Dagans last strike? Targeted killings outside of its borders have been used as a military weapon more often by Israel than by any other country. In its 63 years of existence, Israel has acquired a high degree of craftsmanship when it comes to snuffing out its opponents, and was the first country to develop the technology for targeted killings from the air. In 1978 Israeli agents used poisoned toothpaste to kill Wadih Haddad, the leader of a faction of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Seven years later they packed a copy of the Holy Quran with explosives and sent it to Ali-Akbar Mohtashamipur, Irans ambassador to Syria. In 1997 they attempted, but ultimately failed, to assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Mashal with the neurotoxin botulin in the Jordanian capital, Amman. And exactly a year ago, they appeared unconcerned that surveillance cameras captured each stage of their murder of Hamas activist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh - allowing the world to examine the anatomy of that Dubai attack. Underground militias plotting to undermine the British Mandate in Palestine were using targeted assassination even before the 1948 foundation of the state of Israel, often enough against each another. The Lehi organisation, also known as the Stern Gang, was led by Yitzhak Shamir, who drew his inspiration from revolutionary communist movements and the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Russian-born Shamir thought nothing of killing dozens of Jews whom he suspected of collaborating with the British. He was also involved in the murders of a leading British minister and Folke Bernadotte, a Swedish UN diplomat. Translated from the German by Jan Liebelt and Ella Ornstein Spiegel (to be continued)