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Scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, appointed director of a secret Iranian nuclear program, was killed on Friday in an attack that has yet to be reported, but which promises to further worsen Iran’s relationship with the United States and Israel.
The Iranian authorities confirmed the death of the “martyr” Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and promised to retaliate against those responsible. Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has pointed the finger at Israel, which remains silent, as has the Pentagon.
“The terrorists today assassinated a prominent Iranian scientist. This cowardice – with serious evidence of Israel’s involvement – shows the desperate warmongering of its authors, “Zarif accused on the social network Twitter, appealing to the international community,” and especially the European Union, “to” put an end to their shameful and ambivalent positions “. condemn this act of State terrorism.”
Terrorists today assassinated an eminent Iranian scientist. This cowardice, with serious indications of the role of Israel, shows a desperate warmongering of the perpetrators.
Iran calls on the international community, and especially the EU, to end its shameful double standards and condemn this act of state terror.
– Javad Zarif (@JZarif) November 27, 2020
According to the Iranian authorities, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed in an ambush in Absard, 70 kilometers from Tehran, when four people shot at the car he was following along with his bodyguard. The scientist was still transported to the hospital, but could not resist the injuries, while the bodyguard was injured.
“Remember this name: Fakhrizadeh”
Fakhrizadeh was a professor of physics at a university in Tehran and was part of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. For more than two decades, he wrote the The New York Times, was held primarily responsible for Tehran’s attempt to develop a nuclear weapon, a project that the Islamic Republic partially abandoned in the early 2000s.
Fakhrizadeh’s association with an alleged Iranian nuclear program, however, continued, and the scientist was even subject to sanctions by the United States in 2008. In addition, according to the same American newspaper, he was designated as one of the main targets of the Mossad (Israeli secret services), which in the past has been linked to the murder of several Iranian scientists.
In 2018, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Iranian government of lying about its nuclear program on television, Fakhrizadeh was again mentioned as the head of a secret program for the development of a nuclear weapon. “Remember this name: Fakhrizadeh,” Netanyahu said at the time, guaranteeing that he is in possession of documents that prove Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The Israeli government, for now, is silent, but in Iran there is little doubt that the Hebrew state was behind the assassination, with top regime figures vowing revenge.
“In the last days of the political life of his main ally [Donald Trump], the zionists [Israel] seek to intensify pressure on Iran and create an all-out war, “accused Hossein Dehgan, a military adviser to the ayatollah Ali Khamenei is appointed as a possible candidate for the 2021 presidential elections.
“We will lightly attack the murders of this downtrodden martyr and make them regret their actions,” Dehgan added.
Problems with Joe Biden
Regardless of who was responsible for Mohsen Fakhrizadeh’s death, Iran’s relations with the United States and Israel are expected to deteriorate further when Donald Trump is less than two months away from leaving the White House.
In Iran, Israel and Saudi Arabia, the country’s main rivals in the region, they are expected to use the last weeks of the Trump Administration to weaken the Islamic Republic, hampering Joe Biden’s claims to move closer to Tehran when he takes office.
The president-elect has already shown himself willing to dialogue with the Iranian authorities, admitting the lifting of some sanctions and even the resumption of the nuclear agreement, signed in 2015 by the 5 + 1 group (USA, UK, France, China and Russia, plus Germany) and from which Donald Trump retired to the United States three years later.
However, these claims may generate heightened tension between Washington and Tehran, at a time when there is a problematic transition of power in the United States, exacerbated by the entrances and exits of the Pentagon: Defense Secretary Mark Esper was fired. two weeks, adding to the uncertainty about what Trump can still do in the final weeks in office.
The outgoing President, as reported by the The New York TimesHe even admitted to a military attack on Iran after the presidential elections, but was dissuaded by his advisers, who warned of the possibility of a full-scale conflict, with unpredictable consequences.
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