Iran accuses Israel of murdering scientist and seeking ‘chaos’

(Archive) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech during the inaugural session of the new parliament after the February elections, in Tehran on May 27, 2020. / AFP

TEHRAN – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday accused arch-enemy Israel of acting as a “mercenary” for the United States and seeking to create chaos, blaming him for the murder of a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist.

Rouhani promised a response “in due course”, promising that his country will not fall into a “trap” and alluding to the shifting power dynamics in the wake of the US elections, while Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for the “punishment (of) the perpetrators and those responsible ”for the murder.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was “martyred” after being seriously wounded when the attackers attacked his car and participated in a shootout with his bodyguards outside the capital Tehran on Friday, according to Iran’s Defense Ministry.

“The nation of Iran is smarter than falling into the conspiracy trap set up by the Zionists,” Rouhani said in televised remarks.

“They are thinking of creating chaos, but they must know that we have read their hands and that they will not succeed,” said Iran’s president, after blaming “the evil hands of global arrogance on the usurper before the assassination.” . The Zionist regime as a mercenary ”.

Iran, a major Shiite power, generally uses the term “global arrogance” to refer to the United States, where outgoing President Donald Trump has been aggressive toward Tehran, unilaterally withdrawing in 2018 from a multilateral nuclear deal with the Islamic republic and reimposing sanctions. paralyzing.

“This barbaric assassination shows that our enemies are in stressful weeks, during which they feel … that their pressure decreases, the global situation changes,” the Iranian president added.

Fakhrizadeh’s assassination comes less than two months before US President-elect Joe Biden takes office, after defeating Trump in elections earlier this month.

Biden was Barack Obama’s vice president when the Iran nuclear deal was agreed in 2015, and he has promised a return to diplomacy with Iran.

‘Punish the perpetrators’

“The enemies of Iran must know that the people of Iran and officials are more courageous than leaving this criminal act unanswered,” Rouhani added, speaking at the weekly meeting of Iran’s COVID-19 task force.

“In due time, they will answer for this crime.”

A little later, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called “to follow up on this crime and certainly punish the perpetrators and perpetrators,” in a short statement on his official website.

Khamenei also called for a continuation of Fakhrizadeh’s “scientific and technical efforts … in all the fields in which he was working.”

The Defense Ministry said Fakhrizadeh, who ran its research and innovation organization, died after doctors failed to revive him.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday there were “serious indications of an Israeli role” in the assassination.

The United States imposed sanctions on Fakhrizadeh in 2008 for “activities and transactions that contributed to the development of Iran’s nuclear program,” and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once described him as the father of Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

Fakhrizadeh was attacked while traveling near the town of Absard in Damavand county in eastern Tehran province.

The New York Times said a US official and two other intelligence officials confirmed that Israel was behind the attack, without elaborating.

An eye for an eye or a trap?

Lebanon’s Hezbollah said early Saturday that it “strongly” condemned the “terrorist operation that led to the martyrdom” of Fakhrizadeh.

The powerful Shiite movement added that it asks “Almighty God” to elevate it to the highest ranks “alongside his predecessors … treacherously martyred at the hands of Zionist and international gangs of murder and terrorism.”

The Fakhrizadeh assassination is the latest in a series of killings of nuclear scientists in Iran in recent years that the Islamic republic has blamed on Israel.

The scientist was on the front page of almost every Saturday morning newspaper in Iran, with the two main political factions offering different opinions.

The ultra-conservative daily Kayhan wrote “An Eye for an Eye: Zionists Be Prepared” and said: “The Zionists have proven time and again that they understand no other language than that of force.” “Zionists, get ready,” he added.

The reformist Arman-e Melli, for his part, published an article entitled “tension trap”, in words that reflected Rouhani’s televised speech.

Iran “must act even more vigilant than before … so that we do not fall into the trap of high-tension actions,” the article said.

Former CIA director John Brennan warned on Friday that the assassination risked causing a broader conflagration in the Middle East.

“This was a very reckless and criminal act. There is a risk of lethal retaliation and a new round of regional conflict, ”Brennan tweeted.

/ MUF

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