November 28, 2020 3:34:04 pm
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, an Iranian scientist who Israel allegedly led the Islamic Republic’s military nuclear program until its dissolution in the early 2000s, was killed in a targeted attack in which gunmen used explosives and machine gun fire on Friday. (Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran via AP)
Iran’s Top Nuclear Scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated near Tehran on Friday. Fakhrizadeh was the head of the Defense Ministry’s Research and Innovation Organization.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif posted on Twitter after Fakhrizadeh was assassinated: “Terrorists today assassinated an eminent Iranian scientist. This cowardice, with serious indications of the role of Israel, shows a desperate warmongering of the perpetrators. Iran calls on the international community, and especially the EU, to end its shameful double standards and condemn this act of state terror. “
According to media reports, Hossein Dehghan, who is the military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has vowed to avenge Fakhrizadeh’s death.
How was Mohsen Fakhrizadeh assassinated?
According to Iran’s FARS news agency, Fakhrizadeh’s car was hit by an explosion and a machine gun in Absard, which is located about 40 km east of Tehran. According to the agency, around three or four people were killed in the attack and they were “most likely all terrorists.”
A statement issued by Iran’s Defense Ministry said that in the shootout between Fakhrizadeh’s bodyguards and the terrorists, the scientist was seriously injured and taken to hospital.
Who was Mohsen Fakhrizadeh?
Fakhrizadeh, one of Iran’s leading scientists, was also a member of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was compared by The New York Times to J Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who was director of the Los Alamos laboratory during the development of the world’s first atomic weapons. According to the BBC, he was a “key player”, something Israel has alleged in the past, especially since Iran began to breach its nuclear deal commitments.
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Earlier this year, Iran said it would abandon limitations on uranium enrichment, thus refusing to adhere to the 2015 nuclear deal it signed with six major powers.
In a letter addressed to the UN, Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Majid Takht Ravanchi, said that Fakhrizadeh, who was one of the most prominent Iranian scientists, was most recently involved in the development of the first indigenous COVID-19 test kit. and described his murder as a “cowardly act.”
He added that there are “serious indications” of Israeli involvement in what he referred to as “another desperate attempt to wreak havoc in our region, as well as disrupt Iran’s scientific and technological development.” 📣 Express Explained is now on Telegram
What are the implications of his murder?
According to a report in The New York Times, Fakhrizadeh’s assassination could “complicate” US President-elect Joe Biden’s effort to revive the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, which Biden has vowed to do. Significantly, ties between the United States and Iran, which first turned sour during the 1979 Iranian revolution, have continued to worsen since President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and imposed sanctions on Iran.
Read also | Iran tells UN “ serious indications ” of Israeli responsibility in scientist’s death
Therefore, his assassination could also be an attempt to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
In January last year, an American attack killed Major General Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Due to Soleimani’s influence, observers equated his assassination with that of a US vice president.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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