Israel committed assassination in Iran / Crisis could complicate the efforts of the Joe Biden administration

Israel is behind the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, considered the director of the Iranian nuclear program, according to officials quoted by the New York Times, noting that the current crisis will complicate the Joseph Biden administration’s efforts to reintegrate the United States into the nuclear deal. Iranian.

Israel staged the assassination on Friday on the outskirts of Tehran, targeting Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the director of Iran’s nuclear program. . It is unclear to what extent the Donald Trump administration knew in advance of the operation, but Israel and the United States are close allies and exchange intense information on Iran. The White House and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) declined to comment on the case.

On Friday afternoon, the Tehran administration threatened to retaliate against the death of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran’s nuclear program director, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested that the assassination was committed by Israel. “We will strike the killers of this martyr like lightning and make them regret the action,” said Hossein Dehghan, military adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.

“Terrorists murdered a prominent Iranian scientist. This act of cowardice, showing serious indications of Israel’s role, shows desperation for the perpetrators of belligerent acts. The international community must end shameful double standards and condemn this specific act. Terrorism. of state“said Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iranian foreign minister.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the director of the Iranian nuclear program, was assassinated in an armed attack in the city of Absard on the outskirts of Tehran.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh’s death is “a setback for the Iranian nuclear program”. “He was a prominent nuclear specialist and is believed to have been in charge of Iran’s secret nuclear program. He was also a senior Revolutionary Guards officer, and this will broaden Iran’s desire to retaliate by force,” said Michael P. Mulroy. , former Pentagon Middle East expert.

According to the New York Times, “the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh risks having far-reaching implications for future Joe Biden administration,” at the risk of generating a similar reaction to the January 2020 US attack that killed Iranian general Qassim Suleimani. . “The attack could complicate President Joe Biden’s efforts to reactivate the 2015 nuclear deal (…),” the NYT points out.

In recent weeks, the Israeli military has been ordered to prepare for a US attack on Iran at the end of US President Donald Trump’s term, senior Israeli officials said on Axios.com news site. . The Israeli army has been preparing for possible retaliation from Iran directly or through intermediaries in Syria, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Gantz has spoken twice in the past two weeks with interim US Defense Secretary Christopher Miller on military cooperation, Iran and Syria. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yossi Cohen, the Israeli intelligence director of the Mossad, secretly traveled to Saudi Arabia, where they met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the US Secretary of State. exercise, Mike Pompeo. The visit is part of the Donald Trump administration’s efforts to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

The Tehran administration threatened last week that it would react against a possible US attack, amid rumors that incumbent President Donald Trump would like to launch an operation to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities. “Any action against the Iranian nation would certainly provoke a devastating reaction,” said Ali Rabiei, spokesman for the Tehran administration.

According to sources cited by the New York Times, the president in office of the United States, Donald Trump, has evoked the idea of ​​an attack on Iranian nuclear installations, in the context of some irregularities reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Donald Trump’s advisors prevented him from launching military action, arguing that such an attack would risk generating a major conflict in the final weeks of the current US president’s term.