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Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was one of Iran’s most important nuclear scientists.
A professor of physics and an officer in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, he was a well-known figure among the intelligence communities of Iran’s enemies, primarily the United States and Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named him directly when speaking of the threat posed by Iran as a would-be nuclear power.
“Remember that name,” he said at a 2018 press conference.
In January, the United States assassinated the top Iranian general. Qassem Soleimani.
In a sense, this is the nuclear equivalent of the January assassination.
The scene of the attack. Image: IRIB / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
By eliminating Qassem Soleimani, the Americans sought to stop or at least curb Iran’s malign involvement in a Middle East arc, an Iranian influence spearheaded by him.
The obvious motive behind the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh it would be slowing down Iran’s nuclear proliferation program. Or at least that would be the hope.
There is also a very political element in all of this. Both Israel and the United States, under the Trump administration, have repeatedly warned of the growing threat they see in Iran.
The Fakhrizadeh assassination could be seen as the nuclear equivalent of the Qassem Soleimani assassination.
Trump abandoned the Obama nuclear deal, but has been unable to replace it with anything. The concern between Trump and Netanyahu is that a Biden administration will try to resurrect the deal.
By assassinating a top nuclear scientist, they are making it difficult for the Biden administration to revive the deal, while at the same time removing a pin in Iran’s quest for a nuclear weapon.
A week ago, President Trump called for military options for attacking Iran: attacking a nuclear site.
He chose not to act in the end. But there was an expectation that his administration and Israel would use these past months to attack Iran in one way or another and curb its nuclear ambitions.
His calculation is that Iran would not respond before leaving office.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously spoken about Fakhrizadeh.
At this stage, of course, there have been no liability claims and may never be.
Israel is widely believed to have been behind a string of killings of Iranian nuclear scientists a decade ago, but has never admitted it.
The Iranians have vowed to avenge whoever is responsible for this murder.
