Iran blames Israel for the killing of its top nuclear scientist near Tehran; Vows ‘harsh revenge’

Prominent Iranian physicist and nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed in a gun attack near the capital Tehran on 27 November at . A report in state-controlled Iranian news channel Press TV said that Fakhrizadeh  had been targeted on Friday in a multi-pronged attack involving at least one explosion and small fire by a number of assailants in Absard city of Damavand County, Tehran Province. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh headed the Iranian Defense Ministry’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND) and was a professor of physics at Imam Hussein University of Tehran.

Reports from Iran say that attack was initiated when a truck carrying explosives hidden beneath a load of wood detonated near Fakhrizadeh’s car.  A second vehicle in the  convoy  was destroyed with a bomb as several gunmen attacked the convoy. Fakhrizadeh’s bodyguards then clashed with gunmen in which three to four of the attackers were reportedly killed.

Iran’s Defense Ministry’s in a press release said Fakhrizadeh “was severely wounded in the course of clashes between his security team and terrorists, and was transferred to hospital,” where he succumbed to his injuries. Fars News Agency said 3-4 people who were involved in the attack were also killed. Photos and footage shared online of the attack showed bullet holes on the windshield of Fakhrizadeh’s car and a pool of blood on the road.

Iran vows ‘harsh revenge’ against Israel

Foreign Minister of Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif terming the killing as a ‘terror attack’, said that there were “serious indications” of the Israeli regime’s role in the assassination of Fakhrizadeh. “Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today. This cowardice—with serious indications of Israeli role—shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators”, he said in a Tweet.

Calling on the international community to condemn the attack, Zarif wrote “Iran calls on int’l community—and especially EU—to end their shameful double standards & condemn this act of state terror.” In a subsequent tweet in Arabic, he wrote “Once again, Iran is a victim of terrorism, with the assassination of one of its great scholars by terrorists.  Our heroes have always faced terrorism in order to establish security and stability in the region and the world.” He called for divine retribution by saying that “punishment of wrongdoers is a divine law.”

The death of the country’s top nuclear scientist will be a big blow for Iran’s defense industry. Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri blamed the “savage” attack on “terrorists tied to global arrogance and the evil Zionist regime.” and said that the enemies should know that “the path opened by the likes of Martyr Fakhrizadeh will never end.” He promised “harsh revenge” awaits the ‘terror groups’ as well as all those who had a hand in the ‘terror attack’.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was on the radar of Israeli intelligence agencies. Israel blames Fakhrizadeh for heading the ‘Project Amad’ which refers to an Iranian scientific project. According to the IAEA, the project was started in 1989 and officially stopped in 2003 after international and US pressure. However, Israel has suspected that Iran continued the Amad project to develop nuclear weapons in secrecy and that Fakhrizadeh has headed it since then.

Iran’s claims of the Israeli involvement in his killing is backed by the fact that Fakhrizadeh’s name was mentioned multiple times in a presentation  about the Iranian nuclear program. in 2018 by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Iran’s UN ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi said the killing was a clear violation of international law, designed to wreak havoc in the region.

Killing triggers war of words in US

Surprisingly, Iran found support from an unexpected quarter. Former CIA Director and Biden supporter John O. Brennan took to Twitter to condemn the killing of Fakhrizadeh as ‘criminal & highly reckless’ act. Quoting the tweet from AP, he wrote “This was a criminal act & highly reckless. It risks lethal retaliation & a new round of regional conflict. Iranian leaders would be wise to wait for the return of responsible American leadership on the global stage & to resist the urge to respond against perceived culprits.”

Terming the act as an ‘act of state-sponsored terrorism’, he further wrote, “I do not know whether a foreign government authorized or carried out the the murder of Fakhrizadeh. Such an act of state-sponsored terrorism would be a flagrant violation of international law & encourage more governments to carry out lethal attacks against foreign officials.” He buttressed his argument by saying that “these assassinations are far different than strikes against terrorist leaders & operatives of groups like al-Qaida & Islamic State, which are not sovereign states. As illegitimate combatants under international law, they can be targeted in order to stop deadly terrorist attacks”.

When criticised by Senator Ted Cruz for seemingly supporting Iran, Brennan wrote “My commitment to Israel’s security & my efforts to counter Iran’s malign activities are well documented throughout my 33 years of national security work serving Republican & Democratic Administrations.” and questioned Ted’s work in return.