Iran’s clerical and military rulers have blamed Israel for the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
Dubai:
Iran’s English-language Press TV said on Monday that the weapon used in the assassination of a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist last week was made in Israel.
“The weapon collected at the scene of the terrorist act (where Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed) bears the logo and specifications of the Israeli military industry,” an anonymous source told Press TV.
Speaking before the Press TV report, Israeli intelligence minister Eli Cohen told 103 FM radio station on Monday that he did not know who was responsible.
Fakhrizadeh, who had little public profile in Iran but had been named by Israel as a major player in what it says is Iran’s search for nuclear weapons, was killed on Friday when he was ambushed on a highway near Tehran and his car was sprayed. with bullets.
Iran began Fakhrizadeh’s burial in a cemetery in northern Tehran on Monday, state television reported, as the defense minister promised the Islamic Republic would retaliate for his murder.
Iran’s clerical and military rulers have blamed Iran’s long-time enemy Israel for Fakhrizadeh’s assassination, increasing the threat of a new confrontation with the West and Israel in the remaining weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency.
However, the rulers of Iran are aware of the overwhelming military and political difficulties in attacking Israel. Such an attack would also complicate any effort by US President-elect Joe Biden to reignite detente with Tehran after he takes office on January 20.
Tensions have risen between Tehran and Washington since 2018, when Trump abandoned the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with six powers and re-imposed sanctions that have paralyzed Iran’s economy.
In retaliation, Tehran gradually broke the agreement’s restrictions on its nuclear program. Biden has said that he will return the United States to the deal if Iran resumes compliance.
Tehran has always denied seeking nuclear weapons.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated channel.)
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