Iran accuses Israel of murdering leading nuclear scientist remotely
A TOP Iranian security official yesterday accused Israel of using “electronic devices” to remotely kill a scientist who founded the Islamic Republic’s military nuclear program in the 2000s.
Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, made the comment at the funeral for Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
Israel, long suspected of killing Iranian nuclear scientists over the past decade, repeatedly has declined to comment on the attack.
Fakhrizadeh headed Iran’s AMAD program, which Israel and the West have alleged was a military operation looking at the feasibility of building a nuclear weapon.
The International Atomic Energy Agency says that “structured program” ended in 2003. US intelligence agencies concurred with that assessment in a 2007 report.
Israel insists Iran still maintains the ambition of developing nuclear weapons, pointing to Tehran’s ballistic missile program and research into other technologies.
Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is peaceful.
Shamkhani’s remarks on the funeral drastically change the story of Fakhrizadeh’s killing on Friday.
Authorities initially said a truck exploded and then gunmen opened fire on the scientist, killing him. State TV even interviewed a man on the night of the attack who described seeing gunmen open fire.
State TV’s English-language Press TV reported a weapon recovered from the scene of the attack bore “the logo and specifications of the Israeli military industry.”
State TV’s Arabic-language channel, Al-Alam, claimed the weapons used were “controlled by satellite,” a claim also made on Sunday by the semiofficial Fars news agency.
“Unfortunately, the operation
was a very complicated operation and was carried out by using electronic devices,” Shamkhani told state TV.
“No individual was present at the site.”
Satellite control of weapons is nothing new. Armed, longrange drones, for instance, rely on satellite connections to be controlled by their remote pilots. Remote- controlled gun turrets also exist, but typically see their operator connected by a hardline to cut down on the delay in commands being relayed.
While technically feasible, it wasn’t immediately clear if such a system had been used before, said Jeremy Binnie, the Mideast editor of Jane’s Defence Weekly.
“Could you set up a weapon with a camera which then has a feed that uses an open satellite communications line back to the controller?” Binnie
said. “I can’t see why that’s not possible.”
It also raised the question of if the truck that exploded during the attack detonated afterward to try and destroy a satellitecontrolled machine gun hidden inside of it.
Shamkhani also blamed the Iranian exile group Mujahedeen- e-Khalq as well for “having a role in this,” without elaborating. The MEK did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Yesterday’s service for Fakhrizadeh took place at an outdoor portion of Iran’s Defense Ministry in Tehran, with officials including Revolutionary Guard Chief General Hossein Salami, the Guard’s Quds Force leader General Esmail Ghaani, civilian nuclear program chief Ali Akbar Sahei and Intel l igence Minister Mamoud Alavi.
They sat apart from each
other and wore masks due to the coronavirus pandemic as reciters melodically read portions of the Quran and other religious texts.
Defense Minister General Amir Hatami gave a speech after kissing Fakhrizadeh’s casket and putting his forehead against it.
He said Fakhrizadeh’s killing would make Iranians “more united, more determined.”
Hatami also criticized countries that hadn’t condemned Fakhrizadeh’s killing.
“This will catch up with you someday,” he warned.
Overnight, the United Arab Emirates, which has just reached a normalization deal with Israel, issued a statement condemning “the heinous assassination” of Fakhrizadeh.
The UAE warned it “could further fuel conflict in the region.”