Daily Times

Nukes are weapons of mass destruction and the world will be a better place if we could do away with them. They are a threat to humanity, whosoever may make or keep them. No distinction could be made in this regard. In a world of nuke piles, however, a few countries could be permitted to keep nukes as deterrence. That said, the assassination of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in a bomb and bullet attack in Tehran has whipped up the fears about regional stability. Iran has expressed strong emotions and vows for ‘harsh revenge’. Similar views were heard after the Trump administration killed its top commander Qassem Soleimani in January last. It proved a gross misadventure by the US government at that time as it followed an Iranian direct attack on the US interests in Iraq. Moreover, Soleimani’s funeral was held in almost all big cities of Iraq and Iran, which served as a tool to unite people against the US in the region. There was a surge in Houthi attacks in Yemen after that creating some fissures in the Saudi-led coalition.

Fearing a similar response, the CIA chief has denied any US involvement in Fakhrizadeh’s assassination. According to BBC, he has also dubbed it an irresponsible and criminal act that will fan strife in the region. Israel, however, has not denied its involvement in the matter after Iranian leaders publically accused it of the assassination. Israel is an unannounced nuke-producing country in the Gulf region while Iran was dissuaded from generating nuclear weapons through a deed by the US and the EU countries back in early 2000. It was going well when the Trump administration unilaterally pulled out of the deal leaving the EU countries to weigh their options on their own. Upon defeating Trump in the current US election, Joe Biden had vowed to dust off that deal with Iran and move towards a better future. It is being analyzed the Trump administration could be in tandem with Israel for this assassination in a bid to kick the can of worms open for Biden. Strife and violence is the last thing the new US government may want to start with. Unlike Sulemani, Fakhrezadeh does not have a known assassin. But his assassination on Iranian soil has raised many question marks on the security of Iranian nuclear programme, due to which the ancient Persian nation has made itself into a security state forfeiting liberties of its citizens to a great extent. Hence, it is about time Iran looked inwards before pointing a finger to other countries for its problems. *