A high-ranking Iranian nuclear physicist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, has become the target of an attack and has succumbed to his injuries. The Iranian Ministry of Defense confirms this after a few hours of uncertainty. Tehran raises an accusing finger at Israel.
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Initial reports from Iran said that Fakhrizadeh had died, but later reports reported that the scientist was injured. Fakhrizadeh’s car was shot at by “armed terrorists” in a suburb of the capital, Tehran, according to the Ministry of Defense. There are “serious suspicions of Israeli involvement,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
“This cowardice, with grave evidence of an Israeli role, shows the perpetrators’ desperate belligerent spirit,” said Javad Zarif. The Iranian minister calls on the international community, and in particular the European Union, to end these “shameful double standards and condemn this act of state terror”.
–Photo: epa
Fakhrizadeh, 63, was part of the Revolutionary Guard and was seen as the mastermind behind Iran’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons. That secret program was discontinued in 2003. Tehran has always denied it wanted its own atomic bomb. According to the Iranian news agency Fars, the Israeli secret service has been trying to take out the Iranian for years.
During a press conference in 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu said “Fakhrizadeh, remember that name.” According to Netanyahu, Fakhrizadeh was at the head of the Iranian nuclear weapons program. According to Netanyahu, the scientist subsequently worked with the Iranian Ministry of Defense on “special projects”. Israel is not commenting on the news for now.
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