Reza Mozaffari Nia

Brigadier General Reza Mozaffari Nia was an IRGC officer who served as a director of SPND — the Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research — the classified Iranian body widely assessed as continuing Mohsen Fakhrizadeh's covert nuclear weapons research programme. He was among the most senior figures in Iran's clandestine nuclear weapons infrastructure, overseeing SPND during a period of significant activity flagged by the IAEA. He was succeeded as SPND director by Hossein Jabal Amelian. Mozaffari Nia was killed on 28 February 2026 in Israeli airstrikes targeting Iran's nuclear and military leadership.