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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has accused Israel of killing prominent scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and promised that the assassination would not stop the country’s nuclear progress, state television reported.
“Once again, the evil hands of global arrogance were stained with the blood of the mercenary usurping Zionist regime,” Rouhani said in a statement Saturday. “The murder of the martyr Fakhrizadeh shows the despair of our enemies and the depth of their hatred … His martyrdom will not slow down our achievements.”
Fakhrizadeh, the architect of Tehran’s nuclear program, was killed on Friday on a highway near the capital, in a major escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
Iran later told UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council in a letter that there were “serious indications of Israeli responsibility” and that it reserved the right to defend itself.
Iran’s envoy to the UN, Majid Takht Ravanchi, said in the letter, seen by Reuters: “Warning against any adventurous measures by the United States and Israel against my country, particularly during the remaining period of the current administration of the United States in the position, the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right to take all necessary measures to defend its people and ensure their interests. “
Israel will face accusations that it is using the last weeks of the Trump administration to try to provoke Iran in hopes of shutting down any chance of reconciliation between Tehran and the incoming US administration led by Joe Biden. So far, Donald Trump has only retweeted a series of stories in Hebrew and English about the murder on Friday.
Amos Yadlin, a former intelligence chief for the Israel Defense Forces, said: “With Trump’s remaining window of time, such a move could lead Iran to a violent response, which would provide a pretext for a US-led attack. against Iranian nuclear facilities. “
John Brennan, a former CIA chief, called the assassination “a criminal and very reckless act”, And one that could provoke retaliation, though he didn’t speculate on who might be behind it. “Iranian leaders would do well to await the return of responsible American leadership on the world stage and resist the urge to answer against the perceived culprits,” he tweeted.
Fakhrizadeh was ambushed with explosives and machine gun fire in the city of Absard, 70 kilometers (44 miles) east of Tehran. Efforts to resuscitate him at the hospital failed. His bodyguard and members of his family were also injured.
Rouhani’s statement follows comments from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who said Israel was probably the culprit, and an advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who promised retaliation. “We will strike like thunder at the murderers of this downtrodden martyr and make them regret their action,” Hossein Dehghan tweeted.
Zarif immediately called on European leaders to distance themselves from what he saw as Israeli actions. “Terrorists killed an eminent Iranian scientist today,” he tweeted. “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. “
Fakhrizadeh had been described by Western and Israeli intelligence services for years as the leader of a covert atomic bomb program halted in 2003. He was a central figure in a presentation by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018 accusing Iran of continuing. looking for nuclear weapons. “Remember that name, Fakhrizadeh,” Netanyahu said during the presentation.
He accused Iran at the time of concealing and expanding its knowledge of nuclear weapons, saying that Israeli intelligence had obtained a stash of half a ton of nuclear archival materials from the country. Iran has always denied having any interest in developing nuclear weapons, saying its research was for peaceful purposes.
During the final months of Trump’s presidency, Israel has been making peace with the Arab Gulf states that share its hostility toward Iran. Earlier this week, Netanyahu traveled to Saudi Arabia and met with his crown prince, in the first visit publicly confirmed by an Israeli leader. Israeli media said they were joined by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Biden has said that he is willing to join the Iran nuclear deal abandoned by Trump and lift some economic sanctions if Iran again complies with the deal, especially over its surplus stocks of enriched uranium. Israel and Saudi Arabia want the United States to stay out of the deal and continue Trump’s policy of maximum economic sanctions.
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