Iran blames Israel for assassination of nuclear scientist, vows to retaliate

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has blamed Israel for the killing of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

“Once again, the evil hands of global arrogance were stained with the blood of the mercenary usurper Zionist regime,” Rouhani said in a statement Saturday morning, according to Reuters, citing state TV.

“The assassination of martyr Fakhrizadeh shows our enemies’ despair and the depth of their hatred… His martyrdom will not slow down our achievements,” he said, adding that “our people are wiser than to fall in the trap of the Zionist regime [Israel]… Iran will surely respond to the martyrdom of our scientist at the proper time.”

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also dubbed Fakhrizadeh a “martyr” and vowed retaliation on Saturday morning.

Tweeting on his Persian account, Khamenei said: “Distinguished nuclear and defense scientist of the country, Mr. #MohsenFakhrizadeh was martyred at the hands of criminals and cruel mercenaries. This unique scientific character followed the path of God in his great and lasting scientific efforts, and the high position of martyrdom is his divine reward.”

He continued: “Two important issues should be put on the agenda by all stakeholders: 1- First, pursuing this crime and a #definitivepunishment for its perpetrators and commanders; 2- Continuing the scientific and technical efforts of Martyr Fakhrizadeh in all the departments in which he was engaged.”

The head of Iran’s nuclear program, Fakhrizadeh, 59, was assassinated in Damavand, east of Tehran, Iran confirmed on Friday afternoon.

“The nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated today by terrorists,” the Iranian Defense Ministry wrote in a statement, not blaming any specific entity for the incident.

However, both Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Iran’s UN envoy later stated Friday that a “serious indication” pointed to Israeli involvement, with Zarif also urging the international community to condemn the attack.

Pictures from the scene show two vehicles, one blown up and one shot at from the front, which had been carrying Fakhrizadeh and his bodyguards. Several local reports in Iran indicated that a suicide bomber was involved in the attack, but that has not yet been confirmed.

A military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei accused Israel of trying to provoke “a full-blown” war by killing Fakhrizadeh.

“In the last days of the political life of their… ally (US President Donald Trump), the Zionists (Israel) seek to intensify pressure on Iran and create a full-blown war,” commander Hossein Dehghan tweeted.

“We will strike as thunder at the killers of this oppressed martyr and will make them regret their action,” Dehghan wrote.

Later on Friday, Iran wrote in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council that there are “serious indications of Israeli responsibility” in the assassination and that it reserves the right to defend itself.

“Warning against any adventuristic measures by the United States and Israel against my country, particularly during the remaining period of the current administration of the United States in office, the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its rights to take all necessary measures to defend its people and secure its interests,” Iran’s UN envoy, Majid Takht Ravanchi, wrote in the letter, which was seen by Reuters.

Guterres urged restraint on Friday evening, before the Iranian letter had been sent.

“We have noted the reports that an Iranian nuclear scientist has been assassinated near Tehran today. We urge restraint and the need to avoid any actions that could lead to an escalation of tensions in the region,” Guterres’ spokesman Farhan Haq said.

Also on Friday, Hezbollah’s deputy spokesperson, Sheikh Naim Qassem, addressed Fakhrizadeh’s assassination and said that the response for the incident is in Iran’s hand, and that Iran has every right to seek revenge for Fakhrizadeh’s death.

“We condemn this heinous attack and see that the response to this crime is in the hands of those concerned in Iran,” Qassem said in an interview with Al Manar television.

He said Fakhrizadeh was killed by “those sponsored by America and Israel” and that the assassination was part of a war on Iran and the region.

The death of Fakhrizadeh is likely to complicate any effort by US President-elect Joe Biden to revive the detente of Barack Obama’s presidency, and may lead to confrontation between Iran and its foes in the last weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Office and the Pentagon have yet to comment on the reports.

Fakhrizadeh was a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) officer and headed Iran’s nuclear weapons project. He was a professor of physics at the Imam Hussein University in Tehran and was former head of Iran’s Physics Research Center (PHRC).