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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in a speech broadcast on state television on Saturday, accused Israel of assassinating prominent Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, while Supreme Leader of the Republic Ali Khamenei called for “inevitable punishment” for those responsible for the murder. .
Religious and military leaders vowed to avenge the murder of Fakhrizadeh, who according to local media died in hospital on Friday after gunmen shot him while in his car in the eastern city of Absard, in Damavand province. from Tehran, the capital.
Rouhani was quoted on television as saying in a statement: “Once again, the hands of malicious global arrogance were stained with the blood shed by the mercenaries of the Zionist regime.”
“The murder of the martyr Fakhri Zadeh shows the despair of the enemies and the intensity of their hatred … his martyrdom will not stop our achievements.”
Shortly after confirming Fakhrizadeh’s death, Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif, on Twitter, pointed the finger at Israel, speaking of “serious indications” of its role in the assassination.
And a “severe” revenge party
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously described Fakhrizadeh as “the father of the Iranian military nuclear program.”
The New York Times cited an official US source and two intelligence sources that Israel was behind the assassination of Fakhri Zadeh, and said the assassination could complicate President-elect Joe Biden’s efforts to reactivate the nuclear deal with Iran.
For his part, Khamenei on Saturday called for “unavoidable punishment” for those responsible for the murder, stressing the need to continue the work Fakhrizadeh was doing.
“One of our country’s most distinguished and distinguished scientists in the nuclear and defense fields, Mr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was martyred at the hands of criminal and mischievous agents,” reads a statement posted on the Leader’s official website. Supreme.
He continued: “He has created this scientific element, whose counterpart is less loved and precious, by his great and immortal scientific efforts for the cause of God, and his divine reward was the same as a great martyrdom.”
He added: “All officials must seriously place two important issues on their agenda. The first is to follow up on this crime and inevitably punish those who committed it and those who gave orders to commit it, and the other is to continue with the scientific and technical effort of the martyr in all the fields in which he was working. “
Revolutionary Guard commander Hossein Salami said he made the decision to take “severe” revenge against those who planned, carried out and supported the assassination of Fakhrizadeh, adding: “We have the right to take revenge” and to respond to the murder of this scientist. nuclear “anywhere or any field”.
And Salami pointed out that “the criminal hand of the United States, the Zionist entity and the hypocrites, is clearly visible in the murder of Fakhrizadeh.”
As for the guide’s defense affairs advisor, he said: “The Zionist entity is pushing for an all-out war and will pay the price of assassination.”
For his part, the speaker of parliament, Muhammad Baqir Qalibaf, said that Tehran’s revenge would include all those behind Fakhrizadeh’s assassination and those who carried out the crime.
Fakhrizadeh is one of the foremost Iranian academics in his field, and he was the head of the Department of Research and Innovation Organization at the Ministry of Defense.
The US State Department placed his name on the sanctions list in 2008 because of “activities and operations that contributed to the development of Iran’s nuclear program,” and Israel previously accused him of supporting the “military” nuclear program, which Iran denies its existence.
For his part, Farhan Haq, spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General, said: “We have learned of the reports that speak of the murder of an Iranian nuclear scientist near Tehran.” Secretary General Antonio Guterres calls for restraint and avoiding any action that could lead to an escalation of tension in the region after the assassination.
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