On June 24, 2025, Israel's Channel 9 reported that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed Iranian nuclear scientist Mohammad Reza Sadiki in Tehran the night before the ceasefire between Israel and Iran came into effect. The scientist, who specialized in developing nuclear technology, was killed in a targeted airstrike on an apartment that Iranian sources said was being used as a safe house to protect him. Iranian state television also reported the news, confirming Sadiki's death on the morning of June 24, shortly before the ceasefire began.

According to Iran's Tasnim news agency, Sadiqi was a key figure in Iran's nuclear program involving uranium enrichment. The US Treasury Department sanctioned him in May 2025 for his involvement in developing technology that could be used to create nuclear weapons. The strike on his apartment in a residential area of ​​Tehran was carried out using precision weapons, presumably from a drone that Iranian media said entered the building through a window. Iran accused Israel of an "act of terrorism," saying the attack killed two civilians in nearby apartments.

Sadiki’s assassination was part of Israel’s Operation Am Kelavi, launched on June 13, aimed at disrupting Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. Since the conflict began, Israel has killed at least 14 Iranian nuclear scientists, according to The Times of Israel, including nine top scientists killed simultaneously in Operation Narnia on June 13 using a secret weapon. Those killed earlier included Fereydoun Abbasi, the former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, president of the Islamic Azad University.

Iran responded to the Israeli strikes with a barrage of missile attacks, including the launch of some 400 ballistic missiles and drones into Israel, killing 24 people, including three in Beersheba on June 24, where a missile destroyed a seven-story building. The U.S. struck sites in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan on June 22, in what President Donald Trump called “eliminating the nuclear threat.”

Trump’s ceasefire took effect on June 24, but Sadiqi’s killing hours earlier drew criticism from Iran. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the strike a “provocation” that undermined the truce’s credibility, though Tehran reiterated its commitment to the deal as long as Israel stopped attacking. Users on the X platform expressed mixed reactions, with some calling Israel’s move a “brilliant operation” and others condemning it as a violation of the peace process.