Assassination Rocks Iran, 'Serious Indications of Israeli Role'
Iran’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated near Tehran on Friday, according to state media.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is blaming Israel for the assassination, as Fakhrizadeh has been a major target by Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, for many years.
“Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today. This cowardice — with serious indications of Israeli role — shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators,” Zarif tweeted. “Iran calls on int’l community — and especially EU — to end their shameful double standards & condemn this act of state terror.”
Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today. This cowardice—with serious indications of Israeli role—shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators
Iran calls on int’l community—and especially EU—to end their shameful double standards & condemn this act of state terror.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) November 27, 2020
Photos of the incident depict a severely damaged cars with blown-out windows.
Iranian nuclear scientist seen as driving force behind weapons program is killed in attack near Tehran, Iranian media reports https://t.co/aSZo14EiiL
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 27, 2020
Hossein Salami, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, also released a statement about the assassination.
“The assassination of nuclear scientists is the most obvious violent confrontation of the domination system to prevent us from gaining access to modern science,” Salami tweeted in Farsi.
ترور دانشمندان هستهای آشکارترین تقابل خشن نظام سلطه برای جلوگیری از دستیابی ما به علوم مدرن است.
— حسین سلامی (@salamy_ir) November 27, 2020
It is unknown at this time what the United States’ response will be to the assassination, especially due to high tensions with the nation after General Qassem Soleimani was killed in January.
However, the assassination comes at a turning point in American foreign policy, considering Joe Biden’s desire to reboot the Iran nuclear deal when he presumably becomes president next year.
Biden may want Iran’s nuclear deal back. That’s harder and riskier now https://t.co/yrnc0bUrIC
— CNBC (@CNBC) November 25, 2020
The Iran nuclear deal was a result of negotiations between Iran, the United States and several European countries that limited Iran’s uranium stockpile but also relaxed sanctions.
President Donald Trump decided that the United States would leave the deal in 2018 under the belief that the Obama administration let Iran off the hook too easily.
After Solemani’s assassination, Iran said they would stop following the rules of the deal and continue to develop a nuclear weapon.
The death of Fakhrizadeh represents a major setback in the Iranian nuclear program, which has recently been making progress.
As the Western world is on the verge of a major foreign policy shift, new challenges with Iran will certainly arise in the coming years.
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