"Remember this name", had blurted Benjamin Netanyahu in reference to Mohsen Fakhrizadeh to the press in May 2018. The Israeli Prime Minister then gathered a crowd of journalists to unveil the content of thousands of documents related to the Iranian nuclear program, stolen by the Mossad from a warehouse in Iran, including writings mentioning the name of the Iranian scientist.

This is the same man who was assassinated on November 27 in his vehicle in Tehran. 

These documents indicate "clearly why the Mossad wanted him dead", affirms the Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman in the daily Yediot Aharonot.

At the end of his book, this author of the successful investigation "Rise and Kill first" on "the secret history of the assassinations targeted by Israel", already evoked the case of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in these words: "The Iranians have taken aware that someone was killing their scientists and began to protect them carefully, in particular the head of the arms project, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, considered the mastermind of the "nuclear" program.

The Mossad brand

For the Iranian Parliament the culprits are designated.

A statement signed by lawmakers called the murder an act of "terrorism and sabotage" by Israel and the United States.

For the moment, no official statement from the White House or the Hebrew state proves that Israel is indeed the sponsor of the death of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

But Tehran said Monday that its eminent nuclear physicist had been the victim of an operation "complex with the use of electronic equipment" involving "completely new" means and accused the Mossad, the Israeli secret service.

“The responsibility of Israel seems logical”, analyzes Thierry Coville, specialist in Iran joined by France 24. “The Israeli government seeks to prevent a possible discussion between Iran and the United States.

The election of Joe Biden should calm, even normalize, relations with Tehran, which is not to Israel's liking. " 

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was one of those practically unknown men who rose to posthumous notoriety.

Little is known about him, but one thing is certain: he was important to Iran.

His assassination brings to at least six the number of scientists linked to nuclear research victims of targeted attacks since 2007. 

The policy of restraint has borne fruit

Faced with this further affront, would Tehran be ready to retaliate, at the risk of compromising its links with the future Biden administration?

Nothing is less sure.

Promising revenge "on time", moderate President Hassan Rouhani has been cautious in his statements in the aftermath of the assassination of the scientist, thus avoiding further abusing a nuclear deal.  

But many Iranian ultraconservatives, including the parliament dominated by this political wing, do not hear it that way.

They call for banning from Iran the inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), responsible for inspecting sensitive Iranian activities, in accordance with the international nuclear agreement concluded in 2015. “Not only will we ban their visits, but also their talks with experts or scientists, "deputy Mahmoud Nabavian told the Tasnim agency.

According to him, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh could have been "identified" by "the enemy", either by "intelligence work" or by "interviews" that he could have given to the IAEA, and we must "cut all the ways "allowing Iranian scientists to be targeted.

However, it is the Supreme National Security Council that has the upper hand over decisions on the nuclear issue. 

“To expel the IAEA inspectors would be to withdraw from the agreement.

However, Iran would not take this risk a few weeks before the takeover of Joe Biden ”, affirms Thierry Coville.

“So far their policy of waiting has borne fruit.

They waited until the UN embargo on the purchase of arms and heavy military equipment was lifted, and it took place in October.

Then they waited for the US election in November which ended in their favor with the ouster of Donald Trump ”.

Iran unable to respond with arms

In Iran, other voices even more radical than Parliament have called for a bombing of the Israeli port of Haifa in reaction to the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

In a violent editorial, the ultra-conservative newspaper Kayhan called for "total destruction of its infrastructure" and many deaths if it is "proven" that Israel is behind the death of the Iranian scientist.

“This is the point of view of those who are even more radical than the Supreme Guide”, specifies Thierry Coville, for whom this position is in the minority among the ultraconservatives.

“Iran is in a situation of economic crisis, to this is added the Covid-19 crisis.

The state wants to avoid a frontal war with Israel and with its American ally, because they know that they will not stand up to their conventional strength. "

This was a criminal act & highly reckless.

It risks lethal retaliation & a new round of regional conflict.


Iranian leaders would be wise to wait for the return of responsible American leadership on the global stage & to resist the urge to respond against perceived culprits.

https://t.co/0uZhyBTM3S

- John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) November 27, 2020

Several specialists agree that the death of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh will not slow down Iran's nuclear program.

“The objective is above all geopolitical: to arouse so much anger in Iran among the toughest, that future negotiations with Washington will only be more complicated”, underlines Thierry Coville.

On the American side, it is difficult to know if Donald Trump's administration was aware of the operation.

“It's not clear what the United States might have known in advance, but the two nations [Israel and the United States] are closest allies and have long shared intelligence on Iran, which Israel considers its most powerful threat, ”an American official told The New York Times.

Also the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh could precisely have been conceived as a poisoned gift from Donald Trump to his successor in the White House. 

The American president did not hide his desire to continue to put “the maximum pressure” on an Iran that is economically out of breath.

Donald Trump had asked his main advisers on November 12 if he had options to bomb one of Iran's nuclear sites in the coming weeks and they had dissuaded him from doing so.

With AFP

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR