Tragic Death of Iranian AI Pioneer in France With Fingers Pointing at Mossad

The body of Dr. Ali Ehsanian, a distinguished Iranian artificial intelligence researcher who had previously collaborated with the Ministry of Defense, was returned to Iran on June 11, 2026, nearly six weeks after his mysterious death in Nice, France.

Though the cause of death remains under investigation, all evidence points to Israel’s spy agency Mossad, which has, for years, systematically assassinated young Iranian scientists.

On March 28, 2026, in the midst of the third imposed war on Iran, Dr. Ehsanian was killed in Nice, the second-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast, under circumstances that Iranian authorities and domestic media have described as suspicious.

His body arrived back weeks later, and was laid to rest the following day after a large public funeral in Omidiyeh, followed by burial in his hometown of Jahrom, in Fars Province.

Dr. Ehsanian was no ordinary researcher. He held a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Sorbonne University in Paris, received a prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions grant from the European Union, and collaborated with Iran’s Ministry of Defense during his military service from 2018 to 2020.