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A senior Iranian security official on Monday accused Israel of using “electronic devices” to remotely kill a scientist who founded the Islamic Republic’s military nuclear program in the 2000s.
Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, commented at the funeral of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, where the Iranian defense minister separately promised to continue the man’s work “with more speed and more power”.
Israel, suspected of killing Iranian nuclear scientists over the past decade, has repeatedly refused to comment on the attack.
Fakhrizadeh led Iran’s so-called AMAD program, which Israel and the West deemed to be a military operation seeking the feasibility of building a nuclear weapon. The International Atomic Energy Agency says the “structured program” ended in 2003. US intelligence agencies agreed with that assessment in a 2007 report.
Israel insists that Iran still maintains ambition to develop nuclear weapons, pointing to Tehran’s ballistic missile program and research into other technologies. Iran has long argued that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Shamkhani’s comments drastically change the story of Fakhrizadeh’s assassination on Friday. Authorities initially said a truck exploded and then gunmen opened fire on the scientist, killing him and a bodyguard. State television even interviewed a man on the night of the attack who described seeing gunmen open fire.
State TV Press TV’s English-language broadcaster reported earlier Monday that a weapon recovered from the scene of the attack carried “the logo and specifications of the Israeli military industry.” The Arab state television channel Al-Alam said the weapons used were “satellite controlled”, a claim also made on Sunday by the semi-official Fars news agency.
None of the media outlets immediately offered evidence to back up their claims, which also provides authorities with a way to explain why no one was reportedly arrested at the scene.
“Unfortunately, the operation was a very complicated operation and was carried out using electronic devices,” Shamkhani told state television. “No individual was present on the site.”
Satellite gun control is nothing new. Long-range armed drones, for example, rely on satellite links to be controlled by their remote pilots. There are also remotely controlled cannon turrets, but they typically see their operator connected by a hard line to reduce the delay in transmitted commands. Israel uses such wired systems along the border with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
While technically feasible, it wasn’t immediately clear whether such a system had previously been used, said Jeremy Binnie, Middle East editor for Jane’s Defense Weekly.
“Could you configure a weapon with a camera that then has a feed that uses an open satellite communication line to return to the controller?” Binnie said. “I don’t see why it’s not possible.”
It also raised the question of whether the truck that exploded in the attack subsequently detonated in an attempt to destroy a satellite-controlled machine gun that was hidden inside the vehicle. Iranian officials did not recognize him immediately. It would also take someone on the ground to place the weapon.
Shamkhani also accused the Iranian exile group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq of “playing a role in this”, without elaborating. The MEK, as the exiled group is known, has been suspected of cooperating in Israeli operations in Iran in the past. Shahin Gobadi, a spokesman for the MEK, dismissed Shamkhani’s comments as “anger, resentment and lies” provoked by the group’s previous revelations about the Iranian nuclear program.
Another murder that unites the Iranians
Monday’s service for Fakhrizadeh took place in an open-air part of the Iranian Ministry of Defense in Tehran, with officials including the head of the Revolutionary Guard, General Hossein Salami, the head of the Quds Force of the Guard, General Esmail Ghaani, the head of the civil nuclear program Ali Akbar Sahei and the Minister of Intelligence Mamoud Alavi. They sat apart from each other and wore masks due to the coronavirus pandemic as the reciters melodically read parts of the Quran and religious texts.
Defense Minister General Amir Hatami delivered a speech after kissing Fakhrizadeh’s coffin and putting his forehead against it. He said the assassination of Fakhrizadeh would make the Iranians “more united, more determined”.
“For the continuation of his path, we will continue with more speed and more power,” Hatami said in commentary broadcast live on state television.
Hatami also criticized countries that had not condemned the assassination of Fakhrizadeh, warning: “This will catch up with you someday.”
Overnight, the UAE, which has just reached a normalization agreement with Israel, issued a statement condemning “the heinous murder”. The United Arab Emirates, headquarters of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, warned that the carnage “could further fuel the conflict in the region”.
Last year, the UAE found itself in the midst of a growing string of incidents between Iran and the United States. Although long suspicious of Iran’s nuclear program, the Emirates have said they want to reduce the escalation of the crisis. The UAE has just started air passenger service to Israel and Israelis are expected to go on vacation to Hanukkah country in the coming days.
Bahrain, an island kingdom off Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf that has also recently normalized relations with Israel, has similarly condemned the assassination of Fakhrizadeh.
“In light of the current situation in the region, the Kingdom of Bahrain calls on all parties to exercise the utmost restraint to avoid new levels of instability,” the Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alon Ushpiz, has telegraphed all Israeli diplomatic delegations around the world urging diplomats to maintain “the highest level of preparedness and awareness of any irregular activity”. around Jewish missions and community centers.
Hebrew-language media in Israel reported that following the assassination of Fakhrizadeh, the foreign ministry ordered increased security in some Israeli diplomatic missions abroad. The ministry declined to comment on diplomatic security issues.
AP
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