An Iranian cleric claims that the Albert Einstein, the great 20th century scientist who developed the Theory of Relativity, was a Shiitie Muslim, Israel Radio reported on Saturday.

The report cites a video by Ayatolla Mahadavi Kani, described as the head of the Assembly of Experts in the Islamic Republic of Iran, who says that there are documents proving the Jewish scientist embraced Shiite Islam and was an avid follower of Ja'far Al-Sadiq, an eighth-century Shi'i imam.

In the video, Kani quotes Einstein as saying that when he heard about the ascension of the prophet Mohammed, "a process which was faster than the speed of light," he realized "this is the very same relativity movement that Einstein had understood."

The ayatollah adds: "Einstein said, 'when I heard about the narratives of the prophet Mohamad and that of the Ahle-Beit [prophet's household] I realized they had understood these things way before us.'"

Reports of Einstein's affinity to Islam circulated in 2012 as well, when the grandson of the late Ayatollah Hossein Borujerdi claimed the scientist was "corresponding with the cleric and had admitted Shia Islam was the most scientific and just religion in the world."

According to those reports, Einstein's correspondence with Ayatollah Borujerdi is kept in a London safe box. Luckily, the readers were provided with the code to open it: B-۱۲-D.E/۱۷-V.A.E.