Iran vows revenge for assassination of nuclear scientist
An Iranian scientist whom Israel credited with masterminding the Islamic Republic’s defunct covert military nuclear program was assassinated outside Tehran on Friday. “Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today,” Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said in a tweet. Zarif said Israel is probably to blame but did not provide evidence.
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh’s killing comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressures President-elect Joe Biden not to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the accord in 2018.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed Saturday that the country would take revenge for Fakhrizadeh’s killing and insisted his death would have no effect on Iran’s nuclear knowledge. Tehran long has maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful, civilian purposes only. This claim has been met with international skepticism.
Fakhrizadeh was traveling east of Iran’s capital when his car came under machine gun fire, according to Iranian state TV and the country’s semiofficial Fars news agency.
Israel’s government declined to immediately comment on Fakhrizadeh, whom Israeli diplomats often refer to as Iran’s “father of the bomb.”
John Brennan, who served as CIA director during the Obama administration, slammed Fakhrizadeh’s killing as “a criminal act and highly reckless” and urged Iranian leaders to refrain from retaliating.
“Iranian leaders would be wise to wait for the return of responsible American leadership on the global stage & to resist the urge to respond against perceived culprits,” Brennan wrote on Twitter.
Michael Mullen, retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expressed concern Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that the assassination “makes things much more challenging” for the Biden administration. Mullen called the killing “a significant event” that could hobble U.S.-Iranian relations.
Retired Navy Adm. William McRaven told ABC News’ “This Week” that the killing reinforces Biden’s “difficult challenge” in negotiating with Iran.