Funeral of murdered nuclear scientist Majid Shahriari

(1 Dec 2010)
++AP Television is adhering to Iranian law that stipulates all media are banned from providing BBC Persian or VOA Persian any coverage from Iran, and under this law if any media violate this ban the Iranian authorities can immediately shut down that organisation in Tehran.++
1. Mid of mourners carrying coffin containing body of Majid Shahriari, Iranian scientist assassinated on Monday
2. Close-up of Shahriari's photo on his coffin
3. Wide of mourners marching and chanting (Farsi) "Down with America, down with Israel"
4. Close of coffin on mourners' shoulders
5. Wide of mourners walking while holding Shahriari's photos
6. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Ali Akbar Salehi, Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation:
"It (Shahriari's assassination) was probably part of their (Western countries who Iran accuses of being behind the assassinations) carrot and stick policy and they tried to show us more stick this time but with God's grace and help we will make them retreat. We will disappoint them with our patience, resistance and more work and effort."
7. Salehi walking on street during funeral
8. Close of one of Shahriari's relatives crying
9. Wide of mourners carrying coffin and chanting (Farsi) "Down with America, down with Israel"
STORYLINE
A funeral procession was held on Wednesday for the Iranian nuclear scientist who was killed following attacks on two nuclear scientists in Tehran, where assailants on motorcycles attached magnetised bombs to their cars in separate incidents.
During the attacks on Monday, Majid Shahriari was killed, and another scientist was injured.
Carrying Shahriari's coffin on their shoulders and holding up his photos, the mourners chanted slogans against Israel and the US, who they accuse of plotting the attacks against Iranian nuclear scientists to stop Iran's nuclear programme.
Iranian officials have also pointed the finger at Washington and Tel Aviv for mysterious bombings.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other officials have vowed that the nuclear programme would not be hampered by what they described as a campaign to sabotage it.
"It was probably part of their carrot and stick policy and they tried to show us more stick this time but with God's grace and help we will make them retreat. We will disappoint them with our patience, resistance and more work and effort," said Ali Akbar Salehi, Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation who was a former teacher of the slain scientist.
The United States and its allies say Iran is seeking to build a nuclear bomb, a claim Tehran denies.
The wounded scientist, Fereidoun Abbasi, is on a list of figures suspected of links to secret nuclear activities in a 2007 UN sanctions resolution, which puts a travel ban and asset freeze on those listed.
The resolution describes him as a Defence Ministry scientist who works closely with Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, believed to head secret nuclear projects.
Iranian media said he was a member of the Revolutionary Guard, Iran's strongest military force.
Majid Shahriar, the scientist killed in the bombing, was involved in a major project with Iran's nuclear agency, according to Salehi, though he did not give specifics.
Shahriari, was also a member of the nuclear engineering faculty at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran and cooperated with the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, said Salehi.
The bombings both took place in the morning, in locations in north and northeast Tehran that lie about a 15-minute drive apart, without traffic.
There were conflicting reports on what time each attack took place.
No groups have so far claimed the responsibility of the attacks.

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