In a rare confession that Mossad agents were behind the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists, the report written by Dan Raviv and published by the CBS News said that Washington officials have communicated to Israeli intelligence agencies to stop the targeting of scientists, saying it may derail nuclear talks between Tehran and world powers.

In his report Dan Raviv, a journalist who co-wrote a book about Israel’s Mossad secret operations, also said that apart from Washington’s pressure, Israel's intelligence agencies have also concluded that the operations had become too dangerous for them as they do not want their experienced forces to be “captured and hanged.”

In their 2012 book, entitled Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars, Raviv and Israeli journalist Yossi Melman said that Israeli spies have killed at least four Iranian nuclear scientists.

Iran had already announced that the assassination of its scientists - including Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, Daryoush Rezaeinejad, Professor Majid Shahriari, and Professor Masoud Ali-Mohammadi - have been carried out by Israeli agents.

Tehran is in talks with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Russia, China, France, the UK and the US – plus Germany to fully resolve the decade-old dispute over the Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

The two sides had inked an interim nuclear deal in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 24, 2013. The Geneva deal took effect on January 20. The two sides are now in pursuit of a final comprehensive deal.

Iran has repeatedly emphasized that its nuclear energy program is meant for civilian purposes only.

SHI/SHI