Tehran [Iran], November 28 (ANI): Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran‘s top nuclear scientist was killed on Friday in an apparent assassination that the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif linked to Israel.
However, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has not commented on the incident, according to CNN. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was head of the research center of new technology in the elite Revolutionary Guards.
CNN further reported that the Iranian state media said that the killing “appeared to be” an assassination. Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif called the death “cowardice — with serious indications of Israeli role.”
“Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today,” his tweet read and added, “This cowardice–with serious indications of Israeli role–shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators Iran calls on the international community–and especially EU–to end their shameful double standards and condemn this act of state terror.”
US President Donald Trump retweeted a tweet from the prominent Israeli journalist Yossi Melman that read, “Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi assassinated in Damavand, east of Tehran according to reports in Iran. He was head of Iran‘s secret military program and wanted for many years by Mossad. His death is a major psychological and professional blow for Iran.”
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri said that there would be “severe revenge” against “the killers” of Fakhrizadeh, according to IRNA.
“The assassination of this capable and worthy manager, although it was a bitter and heavy blow to the country’s defense complex, but the enemies know that the path started by the martyr Fakhrizadeh will never be stopped,” Bagheri said, as reported by IRNA.
The American media outlet reported that a US official said that the Trump administration said it is closely monitoring the situation and added that the death would be a big deal.
Trita Parsi, the co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said that with regard to the assassination suspects, “there are not that many candidates.”
“At the end of the day the only countries that actually have the intent, the motivation and the capacity — and the capacity is really important — really reduces the number of candidates to no more than Israel and potentially the United States,” he told CNN.
Iran started to withdraw from the commitments of the 2015 nuclear deal in 2019, which was a year after Trump pulled out of the agreement and unleashed sanctions on Iran.
Iranian President accuses Israel of killing nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh
Tehran [Iran], November 28 (ANI): Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday accused Israel of being behind the assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
The President said that the incident will not disrupt the “scientific growth” of the country and will only make young scientists more determined “to continue the path of this precious martyr,” Sputnik reported.
The Iranian Defense Ministry informed on Friday that the head of its research and innovation center, Fakhrizadeh, had been killed.
In a Twitter post, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said “terrorists” murdered an eminent Iranian scientist on Friday. “This cowardice with serious indications of Israeli role–shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators Iran calls on int’l community and especially EU to end their shameful double standards & condemn this act of state terror,” the tweet read.
Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami in a message on Friday condemned the assassination of the outstanding manager in Iran’s defense sector, saying that perpetrators of the ‘big crime’ will certainly be punished severely, IRNA reported.
“Such crimes will not undermine the determination of the Iranians to continue this glorious and powerful path, and severe revenge and punishment of the perpetrators is on the agenda,” he added.
Iran’s Khamenei urges ‘punishing’ of those behind scientist’s killing
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday called on the country’s authorities to hold accountable those responsible for the killing of nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, noting the importance of continuing his scientific efforts.
Fakhrizadeh, the head of the Iranian Defense Ministry’s innovation center, was severely injured as a result of gunmen attack on Friday in the town of Absard in the Tehran region and died later from his wounds in a hospital.
“All relevant administrators must seriously place two crucial matters on their agendas: 1st to investigate this crime and firmly prosecute its perpetrators and its commanders, 2nd to continue the martyr’s scientific and technological efforts in all the sectors where he was active,” Khamenei wrote on Twitter.
On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused Israel of being involved in the death of the nuclear scientist, and called on the international community to condemn the act, which he called one of “state terror.”
Earlier on Saturday, President Hassan Rouhani also said that “zionist mercenaries” killed Fakhrizadeh, adding that the crime would not go unanswered. (ANI/Sputnik)
Iran’s lawmakers pass bill to boost nuclear activity in wake of physicist assassination
The Iranian parliament has passed a bill, dubbed “The strategic measure for the removal of sanctions,” aimed at revitalizing the country’s nuclear activities in the wake of the assassination of Iranian nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, parliamentary committee spokesman Abolfazl Amouei has announced.
The scientist, who also was the head of the Iranian Defense Ministry’s innovation center, died as a result of a gunmen attack on Friday in the town of Absard in the Tehran region.
Iran‘s Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Committee discussed the “strategic measure for the removal of sanctions” bill on Sunday, approving three of its articles.
“Discussing articles of the Strategic Action Plan for the lifting of sanctions was on the agenda. In today’s meeting, three articles of this plan were reviewed and the opinions of the representatives were obtained and amendments were made to the clauses. Representatives from the Foreign Ministry, the Central Bank, and the Parliamentary Research Center also attended the meeting,” committee spokesman Abolfazl Amouei told the Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency (ICANA), as quoted by Tehran Times.
According to Amouei, the three articles that were discussed include measures that, if adopted, would significantly increase Iran‘s nuclear activities.
The bill envisages increasing the uranium enrichment level to 20 percent or more — such uranium is considered a weapon-grade one. At the moment, Iran is enriching uranium at more than 4 percent, while the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) capped the level at 3.67 percent.
The bill also involves the restoration of the Arak nuclear reactor, which was set to be redesigned for the production of radioisotopes so that it does not produce weapon-grade plutonium under the JCPOA, and the construction of another reactor. Another provision of the bill obliges Tehran to abandon voluntary compliance with the Additional Protocol to the safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
According to the Iranian news agency, lawmakers assigned a double-urgency status to the bill and ratified it in a 232-14 vote at the Sunday session. (ANI/Sputnik)
Satellite-controlled weapon used in killing of Iranian Nuclear Physicist
The weapon used in the killing of Iranian nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was satellite-controlled, Al-Alam TV reports citing an anonymous source.
“The weapon used in the murder was Israeli-made and controlled with the use of a satellite,” the source told the Iranian state-run TV network.
Earlier, Iranian media reported that Fakhrizadeh was shot dead with a remote-controlled machine gun. Press TV reported on Monday, citing a knowledgeable source, that the weapon was marked by the logo and specifications of the Israeli military industry.
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said on Monday that Iran had identified the mastermind behind the killing. Shamkhani said it was “a complex operation involving electronic equipment.”
Shamkhani said that Iran had confirmed the role of the banned People’s Mujahedin Organization and the Israeli spy agency Mossad in the killing. (ANI/Sputnik)
