'Serious indications' Israel involved in assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist - Iranian FM Zarif UPDATES

Yahoo
Fri, 27 Nov 2020 15:10 UTC

© IRIB NEWS AGENCY / AFP

A handout photo made available by Iran state TV (IRIB) on November 27, 2020, shows the scene after an attack on the car of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh near Tehran.

A high-profile nuclear scientist was reportedly assassinated in Iran on Friday. According to reports, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi, a professor of physics at the Imam Hussein University in Tehran, was killed in Damavand County. He was a senior scientist at the Iranian Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics, Iran Front Page reported.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was widely seen as the father of Iran's nuclear bomb programme. No individual or organisation has yet claimed responsibility for the reported assassination. Social media users in Iran shared pictures and videos from the alleged scene of the assassination. They said an explosion and firing were reported in the area.

It was during Netanyahu's televised presentation in 2018, the first-ever picture of Fakhrizadeh was produced. Fakhrizadeh was on the UN sanctions list, and had travel restrictions bestowed upon him.

Comment: RT reports:

Israel has played a "role" in the attack on prominent Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was killed on Friday near Tehran, the Islamic Republic's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has said.

Zarif said in a tweet that an "eminent" Iranian scientist had been killed by unnamed "terrorists".

He also said Tehran had "serious indications" to believe that Tel Aviv had had some role in the incident, but did not provide any specific evidence to substantiate his accusation.

The foreign minister also called on the international community, and particularly the EU, to condemn the fatal attack, while accusing the European Union of what he called "shameful double standards."

His statement came after Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahavadi was attacked during an armed standoff between his bodyguards and unidentified assailants in the city of Absard, just east of the Iranian capital Tehran.

The scientist and his security staff were reportedly targeted in a suicide bombing and gun attack.

Back in 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the researcher was the head of Iran's alleged nuclear weapons development project dubbed the 'Amad' ('Hope').

Tehran repeatedly stated that its nuclear program was purely peaceful. The International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring Iran's nuclear sites also said that the 'Amad' program had ended in early 2000s.

The Israeli authorities have not commented on the latest incident.

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UPDATE 28/11/2020: Where and when:

According to Tasnim news agency, the attack took place at 2:30 p.m., local time, in the town of Absard to the east of Tehran. The media quoted eyewitnesses who said that they heard an explosion, followed by a barrage of gunfire.

© Reuters/Wana News Agency

Nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh

Fakhrizadeh was travelling in a car together with his bodyguards. A parked Nissan truck laden with explosives hidden under a load of wood reportedly blew up at the moment when Fakhrizadeh's car approached the area. The explosion forced Fakhrizadeh's sedan to stop on the avenue, which is when five or six gunmen emerged from a nearby vehicle and opened fire on his car, the agency added.

His relatives were with him at the time of the attack, however, it was not immediately clear if any of them were in the same vehicle, according to Tasnim. This information has not been so far officially confirmed.

UPDATE 28/11/2020: Officials claim Israel is behind the assassination and what did the US know?

The report does not specify how much information the United States might have possessed in advance about the operation. There has not been any official comment on the report from the White House or the CIA.

​Iran's Ambassador to the UN Majid Takht Ravanchi also suggested that there were "serious indications of Israeli responsibility" in the assassination of the nuclear scientist, according to a letter to the United Nations published on Saturday.

UPDATE 28/11/2020 Hezbollah offers condemnation for the act:

"Hezbollah strongly condemns the terrorist attack that resulted in the death of prominent scholar and teacher Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. We are convinced that the Islamic Republic [of Iran] is capable of resisting all these threats, detecting criminals and stopping those who threaten the lives of Iranian scientists and representatives of the country's leadership, whoever they are."

UPDATE 28/11/2020 NYT accuses the Trump administration:

A report in The New York Times earlier cited three US officials as claiming that Israel was behind the assassination of Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in an attack near Iran's capital Tehran on Friday.

The attack on the high-profile physicist may be perceived as part an effort by the Donald Trump administration and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu government to use the time left until projected President-elect Democrat Joe Biden assumes office to exert more pressure on Iran.

Iranian army commander Mohammed Bagheri admitted that the assassination of the leading nuclear expert in the country was a blow to the Iranian defense establishment.

Accordingly, Israeli officials reportedly briefed a spate of media outlets in Israel that without Fakhrizade it will be hard for Iran to continue its nuclear program.

Feeding into the speculations that the current developments might seek to ramp up pressure on Iran while sending a message to the Biden team was the recent trilateral meeting between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, writes the outlet.

UPDATE 27/11/2020 Twitter explodes with speculation:

UPDATE 27/11/2020: Iran avows revenge; UN advocates restraint:

"The terrorist groups and the perpetrators of this hideous act should know that they will face severe revenge," said General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran's chief of staff and a Revolutionary Guards Corps commander.

"We have noted the reports that an Iranian nuclear scientist has been assassinated near Tehran today. We urge restraint and the need to avoid any actions that could lead to an escalation of tensions in the region," said Farhan Haq, a spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

UPDATE 27/11/2020: On scene video:

UPDATE 28/11/2020: Rouhani points finger straight at Israel:

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has blamed 'mercenaries of the usurping Zionist regime'. "Once again, the evil hands of global arrogance were stained with the blood ... of the mercenary usurper Zionist regime," Rouhani added that the assassination shows "the inability of the sworn enemies of the Iranian nation" to stop its scientific progress and "the depth of their malice and resentment". He added that younger Iranian scientists will step up and take Fakhrizadeh's place.

UPDATE: 28/11/2020 Germany appeals to Iran to have restraint:

Berlin has urged "all parties" to avoid escalating tensions. A few weeks before the new US administration takes office, it is important to preserve the scope for talks with Iran so that the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme can be resolved through negotiations, We therefore urge all parties to refrain from any steps that could lead to a further escalation of the situation."

UPDATE: 28/11/2020 Issues over the US Navy in the Persian Gulf:

A US aircraft carrier and other warships are headed to the Persian Gulf to bolster troop withdrawals in the region, a defense source told CNN, insisting the deployment is unrelated to the recent murder of a top Iranian scientist. The ships will provide "combat support and air cover as US troops withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan" by mid-January under orders from President Donald Trump, moving a sizable arsenal into the region just months before he is set to leave office.

UPDATE 28/11/20: Khameni threatens retribution:

UPDATE: 29/11/2020 New details on the attack offer a different scenario, contradicting previous reports:

Iran's top scientist was assassinated with a remote-controlled machine gun from 150 meters away, semi-official news agency Fars said, contradicting previous detailed reports of a 12-person commando team doing the killing.

Citing "new details" obtained by its journalists from unidentified sources, Fars said on Sunday that the lead security vehicle in scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh's three-vehicle convoy of bulletproof cars left its escort position to prepare the arrival location in Absard, east of Tehran.

Just then, the car carrying Fakhrizadeh and his wife was hit by bullets. He got out of the vehicle, thinking the sound was caused by an accident, engine trouble or an obstacle. A remote-controlled machine gun mounted on a Nissan car 150 meters away then fired at the scientist, hitting him twice in the side and once in the back, severing his spinal cord.

A bodyguard who tried to protect Fakhrizadeh was subsequently shot several times. The Nissan then blew up. Fars said the assassins deployed no live agents at the scene of Friday's attack, which lasted about three minutes. The unidentified owner of the Nissan left the country, Fars said, without identifying the destination.

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