IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM CHIEF MOHSEN FAKHRIZADEH SHOT DEAD NEAR TEHRAN
An Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh believed to be the head of Iran's nuclear program has been gunned down in a street near Tehran.
Witnesses say four assailants shot at Fakhrizadeh in the town of Absard about 70 km East of Tehran.
Confirming his death, the Iranian Ministry of Defence said the scientist died from gunshot wounds in a hospital.
"During the clash between his security team and the terrorists, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was seriously injured and taken to hospital… unfortunately, the medical team did not succeed in reviving him, and a few minutes ago, this manager and scientist, after years of effort and struggle, achieved a high degree of martyrdom," the ministry of Defence said on a statement.
ISRAEL FINGERED AS A LIKELY CULPRIT IN FAKHRIZADEH'S MURDER
Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has pointed accusing fingers at Israel in relation to Fakhrizadeh's death.
"Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today,” he tweeted. “This cowardice – with serious indications of Israeli role – shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators. Iran calls on international community – and especially EU – to end their shameful double standards & condemn this act of state terror,” Iran’s foreign Minister said in a Tweet.
Israeli’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018 identified Fakhridazeh as the director of Iran’s nuclear weapons project, accusing the scientist od hiding and expanding its nuclear weapons. “Remember that name, Fakhrizadeh,” Netanyahu said at the time.
THE AMERICAN CONNECTION
Security experts believe America’s President, Donald Trump is trying to antagonise Iran before he hands over of power in January 2021. The move might frustrate the US president-elect, Joe Biden’s plan to return to the negotiating table over the Iran nuclear deal.
Shortly after the death of Fakhridazeh, Donald Trump retweeted a journalist who announced his death.
Hossein Dehghan, Khamenei’s top military adviser in a recent statement believed to the directed at Trump said “In the last days of the political life of their gambling ally, the Zionists seek to intensify and increase the pressure on Iran to wage a full-fledged war. The night is long. We will descend like lightning on the killers of this oppressed martyr.”
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