Ehsanian reportedly died in the French city of Nice on March 28, but his body was only returned to Iran in mid-June, allowing regime outlets to turn the case into a new propaganda campaign against Israel.

There is no independent confirmation that Israel was involved, and French authorities have not publicly presented evidence tying the death to any intelligence operation. Still, the Iranian narrative is clear: Tehran is now trying to portray AI and data experts as part of the same strategic battlefield as nuclear scientists, missile engineers and drone commanders.

Ehsanian reportedly held a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Sorbonne and worked in fields including machine learning, advanced wireless networks and artificial intelligence. According to the report, he also had a background of cooperation with Iran’s Defense Ministry and security services during his military service.