Iran Reflects On Response As It Prepares To Bury Slain Nuclear Scientist

Iran’s Chief Justice Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi (2nd-R) pays tribute to the body of murdered scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh among his family, in the capital Tehran, on November 28, 2020. – Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, nicknamed by Israel as the “father” of Iran’s nuclear power. program, he died on November 27 after being seriously injured when the assailants attacked his car and participated in a shootout with his bodyguards outside Tehran, according to the Iranian Defense Ministry. The assassination comes less than two months before US President-elect Joe Biden takes office, after four tumultuous years of tough foreign policy in the Middle East under President Donald Trump. (Photo by – / MIZAN NEWS AGENCY / AFP)

TEHRAN, Iran – On Sunday there was a debate in Iran on how and when to respond to the murder of a top nuclear scientist, attributed to arch-enemy Israel, as his body was honored in Shiite shrines to prepare for burial.

Two days after Mohsen Fakhrizadeh died from injuries sustained in a shootout between his guards and unidentified gunmen near Tehran, the parliament demanded that international inspections of Iranian nuclear sites stop, while a senior official hinted that Iran it should abandon the global non-proliferation treaty.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council generally handles decisions related to the country’s nuclear program, and parliamentary bills must be approved by the powerful Guardian Council.

President Hassan Rouhani has emphasized that the country will seek revenge in “due time” and will not be plunged into a “trap”.

Israel says Fakhrizadeh was the head of an Iranian military nuclear program, the existence of which the Islamic republic has consistently denied, and Washington had sanctioned him in 2008 for activities related to Iran’s atomic activities.

The scientist’s body was brought to a ceremony Sunday at a major shrine in the holy city of Qom before being transported to the shrine of the founder of the Islamic republic, Imam Khomeini, according to Iranian media.

Fakhrizadeh’s funeral will be held on Monday in the presence of senior military officials and his family, the Defense Ministry said on its website, without specifying where.

– ‘Strong reaction’ demands –

Israel has not officially commented on the Fakhrizadeh assassination, less than two months before US President-elect Joe Biden takes office after four years of tough foreign policy under President Donald Trump.

Trump withdrew the United States from a multilateral nuclear deal with Iran in 2018 and later reimposed and reinforced punitive sanctions as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.

Biden has pointed out that his administration may be prepared to rejoin the deal, but the assassination of the nuclear scientist has rekindled opposition to the deal among Iranian conservatives.

The head of Iran’s Convenience Council, a key arbitration and advisory body, said “there was no reason why (Iran) should not reconsider the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty.”

Mohsen Rezai said Tehran should also halt the implementation of the additional protocol, a document that prescribes intrusive inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday called for Fakhrizadeh’s killers to be punished.

The speaker of parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, on Sunday called for “a strong reaction” that would “deter and take revenge” on those responsible for the murder of Fakhrizadeh, 59, according to Iranian media.

– Call for strikes –

For the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Fakhrizadeh’s assassination was clearly related to Biden’s arrival in office.

“The timing of the assassination, even if it was determined by purely operational considerations, is a clear message to President-elect Joe Biden, intended to show Israel’s criticism” of plans to revive the agreement, he said.

The United Arab Emirates, which normalized ties with Israel in September, condemned the killing and called for restraint.

The Foreign Ministry, quoted by the official Emirati news agency WAM, said Abu Dhabi “condemns the heinous assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, which could further fuel the conflict in the region …

“The UAE calls on all parties to exercise the highest degree of self-control to avoid dragging the region to new levels of instability and threat to peace,” he said.

Britain, a party to the nuclear deal, said on Sunday it was “concerned” about the possible escalation of tensions in the Middle East after the killing, while Turkey called the killing an act of “terrorism” that “upsets the peace in the region. “.

In Iran, the ultra-conservative daily Kayhan called for attacks on Israel if it was “proven” that it was behind the assassination.

Kayhan called for the port city of Haifa to be attacked “in a way that would wipe out its infrastructure and leave a high human cost.”

Iran has responded to the US withdrawal from the 2015 accord by gradually abandoning most of its key nuclear commitments under the accord.

– ‘Revive Iran’s nuclear industry –

Rezai called on Iran’s atomic agency to take “minimal measures” such as “stopping the online broadcast of cameras, reducing or suspending inspectors and implementing restrictions on their access” to the sites, the ISNA news agency reported.

Iran’s parliament said the “best response” to the assassination would be “to revive Iran’s glorious nuclear industry.”

He called for inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to be excluded from the country’s atomic sites, the legislature’s ICANA news agency said.

Some MPs had previously accused the inspectors of acting as “spies” potentially responsible for Fakhrizadeh’s death.

But the spokesman for Iran’s atomic energy organization, Behrouz Kamalvandi, told IRNA on Saturday that the question of inspectors’ access “must be decided at the high levels” of the Islamic republic’s leadership.

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