Tehran: Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran’s top scientist linked to the military nuclear program, was “assassinated” on Friday, reported Iranian state television. The news was confirmed by Iran’s Defence Ministry after it was widely reported by Iranian media, which said that he was assassinated near Tehran, the capital city of Iran.
Fakhrizadeh, it can be recalled, was named by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the director of Iran’s nuclear weapons project back in 2018.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
According to a report by Zee News, the Ministry said, “This Friday afternoon, armed terrorist elements attacked a car carrying Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, head of the Ministry of Defense’s Research and Innovation Organization.” it said.
The killing has been condemned by Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif “as an act of state terror”.
“Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today. This cowardice -with serious indications of Israeli role -shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators. Iran calls on the international community – and especially the EU – to end their shameful double standards and condemn this act of state terror,” Zarif said in a statement.
Fakhrizadeh was seriously injured during the clash between his security team and the terrorists and was rushed to a hospital, where he died as the medical team was unsuccessful in reviving him, the Defence Ministry added.
The alleged head of the nuclear program, Fakhrizadeh’s death comes amid fresh concerns regarding an increased amount of enriched uranium being produced by Iran.
“If Iran ever chose to weaponise (enrichment), Fakhrizadeh would be known as the father of the Iranian bomb,” a Western diplomat had said to Reuters in 2014.
However, Iran has insisted that its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.
It can be noted that four Iranian nuclear scientists were assassinated between 2010 and 2012.
