[ad_1]
On November 27, the professor of nuclear physics, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was killed on a highway on the outskirts of Absard, east of the capital, Tehran.
The machine gun used to kill him is said to have been mounted on a van and controlled by a satellite, claims the deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Ali Fadavi, according to the BBC and several other outlets.
Fadavi tells local media that the gun should have been able to point and shoot the nuclear physicist without hitting his wife, who was only 25 centimeters away from him.
Fadavi’s claims have not been confirmed by other sources.
– No physical presence
The first reports of the incident were that Fakhrizadeh’s car exploded and a group of armed men opened fire and killed him.
But Fadavi believes that the machine gun was remotely controlled via satellites.
– There were no terrorists present on the ground. Fakhrizadeh was driving when a weapon with an advanced camera approached him. The machine gun was placed in a van and controlled by a satellite, Fadavi says, according to the Tasnim news agency, which cites Al Jazeera.
– 13 shots were fired at Fakhrizadeh from a satellite controlled machine gun. Artificial intelligence and facial recognition were used during the operation. His wife, who was only 10 inches away from him, was not injured, Fadavi says.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed to avenge the murder and demands harsh punishment for those behind him.
Iranian leaders say Israel and the Mossad intelligence service were behind this. Several Western intelligence sources believe it too. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its responsibility.
On Friday, Israeli radio reported that Israeli security authorities had warned several former nuclear scientists to “be careful.” The researchers are said to have worked at the Dimona reactor, a top-secret nuclear site in the Negev desert, writes the BBC.
– Remember this name
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Fakhrizadeh led the Iranian nuclear program and in 2008 was included on the US sanctions list. It is not clear what position he held now.
In 2018, he was appointed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference.
– Remember this name, said Netanyahu, who accuses Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons.
Directed nuclear program
In the early 2000s, Fakhrizadeh led a military nuclear program in Iran, which the IAEA says was suspended in 2003. Some have referred to him as the father of the Iranian nuclear weapons program.
Israel and the United States claim that Iran still has plans to develop nuclear weapons, which the country’s leadership rejects, and the IAEA through numerous inspections has found no basis to affirm.
The attack threatens to escalate tensions between Iran and the United States as President Donald Trump’s presidency comes to an end, making the situation difficult for incoming President Joe Biden.
Biden wants to revive the nuclear deal between Iran and the West, from which Trump pulled the United States.