Iran makes arrests in scientist’s death
KIRKUK/NEW YORK: Iran has arrested several people for involvement in last month’s assassination of a top nuclear scientist, the state-run Al Alam TV reported, citing an official.
Hossein Amirabdollahian, a top aide to the head of Iran’s parliament and a former deputy foreign minister, told Al Alam that Iran’s intelligence services made the arrests after identifying a number people who they suspect were involved in the November 27 attack.
He declined to provide any further details on the detentions.
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed while he was driving on the eastern outskirts of Tehran. Iran has blamed Israel for the assassination, the fifth killing of a nuclear scientist on Iranian soil since 2010.
Iraqi oil wells set ablaze in terrorist attack
Two wells in a small oilfield in northern Iraq were set ablaze by explosives in a “terrorist attack” on Wednesday but overall production from the field was not affected, the oil ministry and officials said Wednesday.
The oil ministry gave no further details about the assailants behind the explosive devices that targeted the wells in Khabbaz oilfield, 20km.
Technical teams isolated the two burning oil wells and there was no impact on output, North Oil Company sources said. The field produces about 25,000 barrels per day, oil officials said. The ministry said production from the two wells that were targeted did not exceed 2,000 bpd.
Judge orders disclosure of Khashoggi death tape The US government must provide limited information about its withholding from the public a tape of the killing of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi and a CIA report on his death in a Freedom of Information Act case, a judge said on Tuesday.
US District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said public statements, including by President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and the head of the Central Intelligence Agency have made clear that the items exist.
Khashoggi, a US resident, was not seen alive after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 2018. Trump called the killing “horrible” but said Saudi Arabia has “been a terrific ally”.