[ad_1]
Unknown to most Iranians until Friday, when he was assassinated, however, nuclear researcher Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was familiar with those involved in Iran’s nuclear program. Western security and intelligence sources also knew him quite well and considered him a key figure in Iran’s nuclear weapons development program, writes the BBC.
The Iranian press tried, prior to his assassination, to downplay the importance of Fakhrizadeh by presenting him as a scientist and researcher involved in the development of a local test prototype for Covid-19. But we do know that Fakhrizadeh was constantly accompanied by several bodyguards, which indicates the seriousness with which Iran was trying to protect him.
Therefore, a possible conclusion would be that the motive for the assassination, for which no one has speculated it, is political rather than related to Iran’s nuclear activities.
Possible motivations for Fakhrizadeh’s assassination include the risk of improved relations between Iran and the United States in the context of Joe Biden’s inauguration as president on January 20, 2021. A second possible motivation would be to entice Iran to retaliate.
“Our enemies are going through stressful weeks. They are aware that the global situation is changing and are trying to use the last few days left to destabilize the region,” said Hassan Rouhani, president of Iran.
Obviously, when Rouhani speaks of “enemies” he is referring to the Trump administration, which is about to leave the White House after the November 3 elections, but also to Israel or Saudi Arabia, its main rivals in the region. Israel and Saudi Arabia also fear a possible policy change in the Middle East and its consequences once the US president-elect is in office.
Biden has openly said he wants to bring the US back to the deal with Iran, negotiated and signed by his former boss, President Barack Obama in 2015. The US ditched the deal in 2018, following Donald’s ambition Trump to neutralize his predecessor’s foreign policy achievements.
How Donald Trump would benefit from the conflicts and interests of actors in the Middle East
Israeli and Saudi concerns about Iran were discussed in what the Israeli press described last Sunday in Neom as a “secret meeting” between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Saudi foreign minister denied that the meeting took place. Netanyahu failed to get bin Salman to normalize relations between the two countries, however, during the meeting.
On Monday, however, Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked a building belonging to the Saudi oil giant Aramco. The Iranian press praised the attack as “a heroic Quds-2 ballistic missile attack”. The Iranian news agency Mehr described the attack as “a strategic move, well planned with the meeting between Israelis and Saudis to warn them to calculate their movements well”.
Saudi anger over the attack by the Houthi rebels was also shared by the Americans. The meeting in Neom would be organized by Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who had just visited Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, where Iran had once again been the main topic of discussion.
Two weeks earlier, President Trump had asked his advisers if there were viable options for attacking Iran’s main nuclear site, according to US media. The incumbent president seemed to want to start a direct confrontation with Iran before ending his term and then letting Joe Biden handle the crisis. Given that Trump not only supported the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani but also boasted that he was the mastermind behind it, there is confirmation that the US president would have no problem ordering an assassination.
The Iranian president, however, blamed Israel for killing Fakhrizadeh, and Netanyahu was one of the few world leaders to speak out about the Iranian scientist – in 2018, in a televised presentation, he talked about his role. Fakhrizadeh in the Iranian nuclear program urged his audience to “remember this name”.
While Israel has no doubts or reasons to doubt the U.S. commitment to its security during Joe Biden’s upcoming presidency, there may be concerns that future U.S. chief diplomat Anthony Blinken is a staunch supporter of a nuclear deal with Iran.
Publisher: Adrian Dumitru
.
[ad_2]
Source link
