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- Iranian President Hassan Rohani has accused the US and Israel of being behind the murder of nuclear physicist Mohsen Fachrisadeh.
- The American media also express suspicion and ask questions about the role of the United States.
- UN Secretary General António Guterres urged restraint after the attack.
“Once again, imperialism and its Zionist mercenaries caused bloodshed and the death of an Iranian scientist,” Rohani told state television on Saturday. The “terrorist attack” only shows the fear of Tehran’s enemies for the technological progress of the Islamic Republic.
However, the killing will not stop the country from pursuing Fachrisadeh’s path even more consistently, the president said. The secret services and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) are investigating the attack.
Has the Trump administration been notified?
Fachrisadeh was hit by his car on Friday in Ab-Sard, an eastern suburb of the capital Tehran, and was so badly injured that he died shortly after in a hospital. Tehran’s defense ministry spoke of “martyr’s death”. The nuclear physicist was a member of the Revolutionary Guard and an expert in rocket manufacturing. Most recently, he headed the research department of the Ministry of Defense.
The “New York Times” (Saturday, online) reported that a US representative and two intelligence officials said Israel was behind the attack. It is unclear whether the US government was informed in advance, but both states are closest allies. The US media reported that a US naval unit had been moved to the Persian Gulf, which was justified by the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
Moderation required
UN Secretary General António Guterres urged restraint after the attack. “We call for restraint and believe it is necessary to avoid measures that could lead to an escalation of tensions in the region,” a UN spokesman for the German news agency said Friday (local time) in New York.
Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Tacht reminded Guterres in a letter that several Iranian scientists had been killed in attacks in recent years. The assassination of Fachrisadeh is another attempt to plunge the region into chaos and disrupt Iran’s scientific development.
In the summer, a series of fires and explosions damaged nuclear infrastructure and facilities in Iran. At that time, too, there were speculations about Israel as the creator, especially as Israel repeatedly attacks Iranian military facilities in Syria.
The interests of Israel
Observers in Tehran also saw the attack as an attempt by Israel and the administration of US President Donald Trump to torpedo a new start in relations between Tehran and Washington. The US government, Biden’s team and Israel did not initially comment on the murder.
Israel accuses Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons alongside the civilian nuclear program, which threatens its very existence. Trump had settled an international deal that was supposed to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb in 2018 and has since sought to cause Iran significant economic damage with severe sanctions against key industries.
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