[ad_1]
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the main scientist in Iran’s nuclear program, was killed near Tehern on Friday, Iran’s Defense Ministry reported.
Fakhrizadeh, 62, died while being treated in a hospital after being attacked in Damavand County, near Tehern.
Iranian news agencies reported that the attackers detonated a car bomb near the scientist’s car and then shot him dead.
Western intelligence agencies Fakhrizadeh was considered the mastermind of Iran’s secret nuclear weapons program. According to several of these reports, he was the “father of the Iranian bomb”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif condemned the crime, in addition to linking Israel to what happened.
“Terrorists today murdered a prominent Iranian scientist. This cowardice, with serious indications of an Israeli role, shows the desperate warmongering of the perpetrators. Iran calls on the international community, and in particular the European Union, to put an end to its shameful double weight and condemn this act of state terror, ”Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter.
The government said Fakhrizadeh, who held the post of head of the Defense Ministry’s Research and Innovation Organization, was now a “martyr”.
News of the assassination comes amid growing international concerns about Increase in the amount of enriched uranium produced by Irn, which is a main component for the production of civilian nuclear energy, but also for the manufacture of nuclear weapons.
Tehern has always maintained that his nuclear program was for exclusively peaceful purposes.
What do you know?
The Iranian Defense Ministry reported that “after a clash between the terrorists and their bodyguards, Fakhrizadeh was seriously injured and was rushed to hospital.”
The Fars news agency, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), released photos of two vehicles linked to the deadly attack on Fakhrizadeh on Friday.
The images showed several holes in the windshield of the scientist’s shot product.
Another, unclear image shows damage from an apparent explosion. Fars quotes a witnesses who explain that an explosion was first heard, then gunshot detonations.
The scientist was transferred to a hospital. However, he died within minutes of being admitted.
“Unfortunately, the medical team failed to revive him and a few minutes ago the administrator and scientist achieved martyrdom status after years of effort and struggle,” the ministry said. of the defense.
Fakhrizadeh was born in 1958 in the city of Qom, Iran. He was a professor of physics and was identified in the West as the director of the Amad project, the alleged secret program of 1989 to advance the manufacture of a nuclear bomb.
The program was canceled in 2003, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“We will make them regret”
IRGC commander Hossein Salami said Iran would avenge the murder of the scientist.
“The murder of nuclear scientists is the most obvious violation of global hegemony to impede our access to modern science,” Salami said.
In turn, the military adviser to the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatol Ali Khamenei, I promised to take revenge against those responsible for the crime.
“We will strike like thunder against the murderers of this fallen martyr and make them regret their action,” Hossein Dehghan tweeted.
Fakhrizadeh’s death joins that of four other Iraqi nuclear scientists who were killed between 2010 and 2012. Iran has accused Israel of being involved in a conspiracy over these cases.
Fakhrizadeh was appointed in 2018 by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he presented extensive research on Iran’s nuclear program.
“Remember that name,” the Israeli prime minister said.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the news of the assassination. The US Pentagon has also ruled out offering statements, according to Reuters.
Why was Fakhrizadeh the target ?: Analysis by Paul Adams, BBC diplomatic correspondent.
As head of the Defense Ministry’s Research and Innovation Organization, Fakhrizadeh has clearly remained a key player.
Hence Benjamin Netanyahu’s warning two years ago to “remember this name”.
Since Iran began reneging on its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal with the West, the country has made rapid progress in accumulating uranium.
Iranian officials have always said that such movements are reversible, but advances in research and development are more difficult to eradicate.
“We cannot back down,” said former Iranian ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Ali Asghar Soltanieh recently.
If Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was the key player Israel is pointing to, then his death could represent someone’s effort to curb Iran’s momentum.
And since US President-elect Joe Biden has said Washington will revert to the deal with Iran, the assassination could also aim to complicate future negotiations.
.
[ad_2]
Source link