[ad_1]
He was considered a key figure in the Iranian nuclear program, now scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed in an attack near Tehran. The Iranian Defense Ministry announced. Several Iranian media had previously reported on the attack. The Iranian leadership blamed Israel for the attack.
According to the state news agency Fars, Fakhrizadeh’s car was attacked by “armed terrorists” on a street east of the Iranian capital. The Iranian Defense Ministry announced that several attackers had targeted the investigator’s car and then exchanged shots with his security team.
In addition to Fakhrizadeh, other people are said to have been killed, including several attackers. According to Fars, the nuclear researcher was taken to a hospital and died there from his injuries.
The 63-year-old nuclear physicist had been a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and was an expert in making missiles. He was considered the head of the Iranian nuclear program. In February 2011, he stepped down as director of a technical university and committed to the country’s nuclear weapons program.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) named Fakhrizadeh in a 2011 report as the main figure behind the “Amad” project. He is the only Iranian identified by name in the report. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly appointed Fakhrizadeh as its director in 2018.
The “Amad” project is considered a covert and allegedly ongoing Iranian research project that is supposed to develop a functional nuclear warhead. The UN Security Council had already imposed sanctions on Fakhrizadeh in the past. Iran itself had downplayed Fakhrizadeh’s role for years, simply calling him a general not involved in the nuclear program.
Shortly after the attack, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Jawad Zarif jointly held Israel responsible for the act. There are “serious indications” of Israel’s involvement in the attack by “terrorists,” Sarif wrote on Twitter.
A military adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s spiritual leader, went further. He accused Israel of provoking a “full-blown war.”
Until 2018, there was a nuclear agreement between Iran and several Western countries, which is supposed to prevent the country from building an atomic bomb. Then, under US President Donald Trump, the United States resigned and imposed tough new sanctions to force Iran to negotiate a new deal with more far-reaching conditions. Since then, Iran has breached the terms of the agreement several times.
