Weapon used in scientist's killing was made in Israel
Iran's English-language Press TV reported on Monday that the weapon used in the killing of prominent Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh last week was made in Israel, the Islamic Republic's longtime enemy.
"The weapons collected from the site of the terrorist act (where Fakhrizadeh was assassinated) bear the logo and specifications of the Israeli military industry," an unnamed source told Press TV. In Jerusalem, there was no immediate reply from Israeli officials contacted for comment on the report. Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said on Sunday that Fakhrizadeh was killed by a machine gun operated by remote control, while the Arabic language Al Alam TV reported that the weapons used in Fakhrizadeh's killing were "controlled by satellite".
Witnesses on Friday told state TV that there were gunmen on the ground. Speaking before the Press TV report, Israeli intelligence minister Eli Cohen told radio station 103 FM on Monday that he did not know who was responsible. Fakhrizadeh, who had little public profile in Iran but had been named by Israel as a prime player in what it says is Iran's nuclear weapons quest, was killed on Friday when he was ambushed on a highway near Tehran and his car sprayed with bullets.
Iran began Fakhrizadeh's burial in a cemetery in northern Tehran on Monday, state TV reported, as the defence minister promised that the Islamic
Republic would retaliate for his killing. Iran's clerical and military rulers have blamed Israel, for Fakhrizadeh's killing, raising the threat of a new confrontation with the West and Israel in the remaining weeks of Donald Trump's presidency.
When asked about potential Iranian reprisals, Cohen told radio station 103: "We have regional intelligence supremacy, and on this matter we are prepared, we are increasing vigilance, in the places where that is required."
Iran's hardline Kayhan daily, whose editor-inchief is appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in an opinion piece on Sunday called for an attack on the Israeli port city of Haifa, if an Israeli role in Fakhrizadeh's killing is proven. However, Iran's rulers are aware of daunting military and political difficulties in attacking Israel. Such an attack would also complicate any effort by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to revive detente with Tehran after he takes office on Jan. 20.
Iran began the burial of slain nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in a cemetery in northern Tehran on Monday, state TV reported, as the defence minister promised the Islamic Republic would retaliate for his killing. Fakhrizadeh, long suspected by Western and Israeli government of masterminding a secret nuclear weapons program, was ambushed on a highway near Tehran on Friday and gunned down in his car.
Iran's clerical and military rulers have blamed the Islamic Republic's longtime enemy, Israel, for the killing. Iran has in the past accused Israel of killing several Iranian nuclear scientists since 2010.
State TV showed Fakhrizadeh's coffin, wrapped by an Iranian flag in a ceremony at the defence ministry, where only several dozen senior military commanders and his family attended due to coronavirus precautions. "The enemies know and I, as a soldier, tell them that no crime, no terror and no stupid act will go unanswered by the Iranian people," said Defence Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami in a televised speech at the ceremony.
His body was later transferred to the Emamzade Saleh cemetery in northern Tehran for burial. Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said Fakhrizadeh was assassinated by an automatic machine gun operated with a remote control.