Daily Times

Iran’s most senior nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated in Absard city of Damavand County, Tehran Province, on Friday, when gunmen opened fire on his car.

Severely injured Fakhrizadeh, 59, was taken to a nearby hospital, but he could not survive.

Top Iranian officials have announced to avenge the assassination of the country’s most senior nuclear scientist.
Hossein Dehghan, military advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to “strike the perpetrators like thunder.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif urged the international community to “condemn this act of state terror”. He stated, “terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today.”

Zarif blamed Israel for the attack and said that there were “serious indications of Israeli role” in the killing of Fakhrizadeh, a professor of physics at Imam Hussein University of Tehran.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu specifically mentioned Mohsen Fakhrizadeh’s name multiple times in a presentation about Iran’s nuclear program in April 2018, where he described the scientist as the director of Iran’s nuclear program and said, “Remember that name, Fakhrizadeh.”

According to The New York Times, “One American official — along with two other intelligence officials — said that Israel was behind the attack on the scientist.”

Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, shared an excerpt from The New York Times article which quoted “some American officials” argue that the assassination would send a “chilling message” to other Iranian top scientists: “If we can get him, we can get you, too.”

Dmitry Polyanskiy stated, “That’s a telling analysis from @nytimes reflecting readiness of US establishment to give green light to political extra territorial assassinations. Not a thing to boast for a democratic country.”