"Iranian nuclear father" assassinated, Israel singled out

The entrance to the Natanz nuclear power plant in Iran.

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A senior Iranian scientist working in the nuclear sector was assassinated on Friday while in his vehicle near Tehran.

The head of Iranian diplomacy accuses Israel of having played a "role" in this "terrorist act".

“Terrorists today murdered a prominent Iranian scientist.

This cowardice - with serious indications of the role of Israel - shows the desperate warmongering of its authors, ”tweeted Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The head of diplomacy also called on the international community to “put an end to its shameful ambivalent positions and to condemn this terrorist act”.

His car being targeted

The Ministry of Defense had shortly before identified the victim as being Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, head of the research and innovation department of the ministry.

He was "seriously injured" when his car was targeted by several attackers, who were in turn taken to task by the scientist's security team, the ministry said in a statement, adding that the medical team had failed to revive him.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh had been described by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the father of Iran's nuclear weapons program.

The Iranian chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Baghéri, directly threatened those responsible for the assassination.

"Terrorist groups and those responsible and perpetrators of this cowardly attempt must know that a terrible revenge awaits them," he tweeted.

He called the death of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh a "bitter and heavy blow", assuring that the Iranians "will not have rest until we have hunted down and punished" those involved.

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