Pointing to Israel and the United States after the murder of a nuclear scientist – VG

According to Iranian authorities, both a car bomb and men with machine guns were involved in Friday’s attack, which took place in the city of Absard, outside the capital Tehran.

Background: Leader of Iran’s nuclear program killed in assassination

The target of the attack, investigator Mohsen Fakhrizade, died from his injuries. Several of his security guards and family members are said to have also been injured.

Fakhrizade has been described by several Western countries as one of the main architects behind a controversial nuclear program where the goal has been to develop a nuclear bomb. skriver Washington Post.

– Remember that name, Fakhrizade, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have said during a presentation on Iran and nuclear weapons in 2018.

The nuclear program is said to have been shut down in the early 2000s, but according to Reuters, Israel and the United States have accused Iran of trying to bring it back to life.

You think Israel is behind this

According to The Guardian, Iran is taking the attack as seriously as the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani by the United States in January, an attack that led to a sharp escalation of the conflict between the United States and Iran.

The attack on nuclear scientist Fakhrizade is also expected to cause great tensions in the region.

In a letter sent to the UN Security Council and Secretary General António Guterre on Saturday night, Iran writes that they have “strong indications” that Israel is behind it. They also ask the UN to condemn the attack and “act” against those responsible.

– Iran reserves the right to use all necessary methods to defend its people and secure its interests, writes the country’s envoy to the UN, Majid Takht Ravanchi, in the letter, which is reproduced by the Reuters news agency.

Hossein Dehghan, who is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini, promises that Iran will strike back at the murderers “like lightning and thunder,” and warns that those responsible “will regret their actions,” the AP writes.

Targeting the Trump administration

Iran suggests that the United States also has a finger in the cake, and is warning against what it calls future actions by the United States and Israel.

– Especially during the last period of the Trump administration, writes the country’s UN envoy in the letter to the Security Council.

US President Donald Trump is set to be replaced by Joe Biden on January 20, after the latter was announced the winner of the US presidential election on November 3.

The New York Times writes that they have sources in American intelligence who claim Israel is behind it. If this is true, according to the newspaper, it is unclear how much the United States may have known about the plans.

The United States and Israel are close allies and have long shared intelligence on Iran. The White House and the CIA do not want to comment on the case to the newspaper.

So far, neither Israel nor the United States have wanted to comment on the matter, writes Reuters.

According to the AP news agency, the assassination attempt could damage incoming US President Joe Biden’s attempt to resume the country’s negotiations with Iran.

Because while Biden has made it clear that he wants the United States to return to international agreements, incumbent President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the historic nuclear deal in 2018.

The agreement imposed restrictions and ensured access to Iran’s nuclear program, against the lifting of Western sanctions against the country.

In early November, the New York Times also reported that Trump had asked his closest advisers about the possibility of attacking Iran’s nuclear program.

Unleash the risk of revenge

Robert Malley, who was former President Barack Obama’s adviser on Iran, believes that one of the goals of Fakhrizadeh’s assassination may have been to stop Biden.

– One of the goals is to cause as much damage to Iran now as possible, both financially and for its nuclear program. The second objective may be that they will try to make it more difficult for Biden to resume the nuclear deal with Iran, he tells Reuters, stressing that he does not want to speculate on who is behind the attack.

Former CIA Chief John O. Brennan, who has branded himself a sharp critic of Trump, he fears a strong reaction from Iran.

– This was a criminal act and totally unjustifiable. This triggers a risk of revenge and a new round of conflicts in the region, write on Twitterand advises Iranian leaders to wait for the next change of power in the United States before taking action.