APS Presidential Letter Condemning Violence Against Physicists

December 11, 2020

Dear APS Member,

The recent assassination of an Iranian nuclear physicist recalls a string of similar killings of Iranian physicists nearly a decade ago. Then as now, there is broad speculation that the purpose is global political advantage, not merely by removing a leading physicist working for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, nor even by stoking fears in other physicists within the Iranian science and engineering community; but also by changing the climate for international treaty negotiations.

No matter what the strategic motive or the geopolitical effect of this killing, the American Physical Society is deeply troubled by tactics of violence and terror, including assassination, against members of our physics community. The APS Statement of the International Nature of Physics and International Cooperation affirms that science transcends national boundaries. We call on all governments to condemn the use of violence against scientists.

Sincerely,

Philip H. Bucksbaum
2020 President
American Physical Society