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In Iran, a high-ranking nuclear physicist and missile specialist was the victim of an assassination attempt. Mohsen Fachrisadeh, 63, was shot and seriously injured in his car on Friday, according to the government. A short time later he died in a hospital.
The Iranian Defense Ministry spoke of a “martyr’s death” when the news was announced. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif reported “serious indications” of Israeli involvement. However, it was not clear at first who was behind the attack.
According to media reports, Fachrisadeh was shot and killed in Ab-Sard, a suburb east of the capital Tehran. Several attackers were also killed, according to local authorities.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Defense stated in an official statement on state television: “We hereby announce the martyrdom of the known Dr. Mohsen Fachrisadeh.”
The nuclear physicist was a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and an expert in making missiles. According to information from the Iranian news agency Fars, the Israeli intelligence services have been trying to eliminate him for years. More recently, Fachrisadeh headed the Department of Research and Technological Renewal of the Ministry of Defense.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted it in spring 2018 in connection with a presentation on Iran’s nuclear program. “Make a note of this name: Fachrisadeh,” Netanyahu said at the time. Iran’s Foreign Minister Sarif now asked on Twitter, in particular, the European Union to “abandon its shameful double standards and condemn this act of state terror.”
Israel and Iran are arch enemies. The collapse of Israel and the “liberation of Palestine” are part of the foreign policy doctrine of the Islamic Republic. The existence of the Jewish state is threatened by Shiite Iran and its nuclear program. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recently described Israel as a “tumor” that the Palestinians must uproot and eliminate through jihad (holy war).
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Under President Donald Trump, the United States unilaterally terminated an international agreement designed to prevent Iran from building an atomic bomb in 2018 and imposed new sanctions on the Tehran government. After a one-year period, during which Tehran unsuccessfully urged the other contracting parties to comply with the treaty, Iran had also gradually ignored almost all the provisions of the agreement. It is unclear whether the United States could return to the nuclear deal under newly elected President Joe Biden.
In the summer there was a mysterious series of fires and explosions in Iran. Among other things, he was referring to a nuclear facility. Most of the causes remained unclear. This left room for speculation, also about Israel as a possible originator.
America is silent for now
The United States did not initially comment on the killing. However, President Trump forwarded a tweet from Israeli journalist Yossi Melman about Fachrisadeh’s death via his Twitter account without comment. In it, Melman wrote that Fachrisadeh was the head of the Iranian secret military program and had been wanted by the Israeli secret service Mossad for years. His death is a severe blow to Iran. Melman expressed “confused” about Trump’s retweet in another tweet.
Since the unilateral termination of the nuclear deal, Trump has been waging a “maximum pressure” campaign with tough sanctions to force Iran to negotiate a new deal with more far-reaching conditions. Punitive measures by the United States exacerbated the financial and economic crisis in Iran. However, Tehran has increased uranium enrichment. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran now has more than 2,400 kilograms. The agreement stipulated a maximum quantity of around 200 kilograms.
Last week, the US media reported that senior advisers had advised Trump not to take military action against an Iranian nuclear facility. The term of the president-elect ends on January 20. Successor Biden has promised to return to the deal as long as Iran also sticks to the upper limits.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Iranian nuclear organization AEOI caused confusion with his comment on the first reports of death. “Our nuclear scientists are all healthy,” said Behrus Kamalwandi of the Isna news agency. Apparently, Fachrisadeh was no longer part of the AEOI, which would explain the denial. (dpa)
