Does the assassination of the Iranian scientist undermine Biden’s diplomatic plans?



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The assassination of Fakhri Zadeh provides a pressure card for the next American administration that can be used (France Press)

The assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, whom Tehran accused Israel of backing it, risks raising the level of tension in the region, but it also complicates US President-elect Joe Biden’s plans to resume dialogue. with Tehran, according to analysts.

Iran had accused Israel of seeking to create “chaos” in the region by assassinating Mohsen Fakhrizadeh (59 years old), and largely hinted that Tel Aviv received the green light from the United States to carry out the operation.

Washington has not officially commented on the operation, which was represented by gunmen who attacked Fakhrizadeh’s car in the city of Absard in Damavand province, east of Tehran, according to the Iranian Defense Ministry.

However, US President Donald Trump again shared other people’s posts on Twitter, including a tweet in which the scientist “has been wanted by Mossad for several years,” referring to the foreign intelligence service. Israeli.

In 2018, Trump announced the withdrawal of his country from the nuclear agreement concluded by several major countries with Iran and launched a campaign of “maximum pressure” on the Islamic Republic, which seems determined to continue until he leaves power in January.

In turn, on Friday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who recently visited Israel, announced new economic sanctions against several Chinese and Russian companies accused of supporting the Iranian missile program.

“This administration … will remain until January 20 … and will continue with its policies,” said a senior US official who was accompanied by Pompeo when he stopped in Abu Dhabi.

“I hope that these means of pressure, which the administration is working hard to equip, will be used to achieve a good purpose, which is to force the Iranians once again to act as a normal state,” he added.

A ‘criminal act’

But for some American analysts, Fakhrizadeh’s assassination was a dangerous act that undermined Biden’s stated desire to offer the Iranians a “credible path to return to democracy,” in a move toward America’s re-entry into the nuclear deal.

In a tweet on Friday, former CIA director John Brennan described the killing of the Iranian scientist as “a highly criminal and reckless act,” saying it carries the risk of launching “deadly reprisals and a new round of conflict in the region.”

Brennan, who chaired the CIA from 2013 to 2017 when Barack Obama was president and Biden his deputy, urged Iran to “wait for the responsible American leadership to return to the international arena and resist the urgency to respond to the alleged perpetrators.”

As Washington returned the US aircraft carrier “USS Nimitz” with its group of warships to the Gulf region, amid its insistence that there is no connection between the measure and the assassination, Germany on Saturday warned of any further “escalation.” .

A spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry told “AFP”: “We call on all parties to avoid taking any measures that may lead to a further escalation of the situation”, which “we do not want at all at this time “.

He added that “weeks before a new government assumes power in the United States, dialogue with Iran must be maintained to resolve the dispute over its nuclear program through negotiations.”

“Shameful job”

George Washington University defense specialist Ben Friedman agrees with both of these views, saying the assassination was “an act of sabotage against American diplomacy and interests … and will likely help Iranian militants seeking (possessing) nuclear weapons. “

As for Obama’s former adviser, Ben Rhodes, he believed that “this shameful act aims to undermine diplomacy between the next US administration and Iran.” “It is time to stop this ongoing escalation,” he added.

However, some analysts saw that Fakhrizadeh’s assassination provided a pressure card for the next US administration that could be used in any possible negotiations with Tehran.

“There is still about two months left before Joe Biden takes office,” said Mark Dubowitz, director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which means, in his view, that “America and Israel have a lot of time to harm seriously to the regime in Iran and provide pressure documents to the Biden administration. “

(Brush from France)



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