Updated: November 27, 2020 9:30:12 pm
This image provided by the IIPA (Iran’s International Photography Agency) shows a view of the reactor building at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant when the first fuel is loaded, on August 21, 2010 in Bushehr, in the southern Iran. Photographer: Brochure / Getty Images Europe
Iranian state television reports that a scientist that Israel allegedly ran a military nuclear program in the early 2000s has been “assassinated.”
State television on Friday cited sources confirming the death of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. He said he would offer more information shortly.
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Fakhrizadeh directed Iran’s “Amad” or “Hope” program. Israel and the West have alleged that it was a military operation that sought the viability of building a nuclear weapon in Iran. Tehran has long maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful.
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The International Atomic Energy Agency says the “Amad” program ended in the early 2000s. Its inspectors now monitor Iranian nuclear sites.
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister alleges that the assassination has “serious indications” of an Israeli role.
Mohammad Javad Zarif made the statement Friday on Twitter. Israel has declined to comment, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself has named the murdered scientist outside of Tehran.
“The terrorists today assassinated an eminent Iranian scientist. This cowardice with serious indications of the Israeli role provokes a desperate warmongering of the perpetrators, ”wrote Zarif.
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