Fakhrizadeh, who ran Iran’s nuclear program, was shot and killed near Tehran. Iran blames Israel, and has pledged retaliation.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pledged retaliation for the killing of Iran’s top nuclear scientist in remarks Saturday, promising a response “to the martyrdom of our scientist at the proper time.” The scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was killed near Tehran on Friday, authorities said, just weeks after an international monitoring agency confirmed that the country had taken new steps in its nuclear development, moving even further past limits on nuclear research imposed by a now discarded 2015 nuclear deal. According to Iran’s Defense Ministry, Fakhrizadeh was ambushed by gunmen while traveling to a town about 40 miles away from Tehran, and died after being taken to a hospital. No country or group has claimed responsibility for Fakhrizadeh’s death, but in a statement on Twitter, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif described the killing as “an act of state terror.” In his televised address Saturday, Rouhani accused Israel of being behind the attacks. Experts say Rouhani’s accusation is likely not wrong. According to the New York Times, at least one American official, as well as two other intelligence officials, have indicated that Israel was responsible for Fakhrizadeh’s death. Such an attack would seem to be within Israel’s abilities. Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that Israeli assassins in the Tehran — Iran’s capital — killed a top Al Qaeda leader living there on behalf of the US. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Fakhrizadeh as a figure of interest and import in a 2018 speech. Israeli officials, however, have refused to comment on whether the country played any role in the killing. Whoever is responsible for Fakhrizadeh’s death — the latest loss in a long-running US-led campaign of “maximum pressure” on Iran under President Donald Trump — Iranian military leaders like Iranian Gen. Mohammed Bagheri see his killing as a “huge blow to the Iranian defense establishment,” as Axios reported Friday. And it’s also just the latest in a series of setbacks for Iran’s nuclear program, including a summer fraught with mysterious explosions at testing and research sites, for which experts believe Israel is likely responsible.
