A nuclear scientist, head of the research and innovation organization under the Ministry of Defense Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed in Iran.

His car was attacked by terrorists east of Tehran.

“This afternoon armed terrorists attacked the head of the Defense Ministry's innovation research organization.

During the clash between his security service and terrorists, Mr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was seriously injured and hospitalized, ”RIA Novosti quoted the press service of the military department as saying.

Fakhrizade was taken to the nearest hospital, but they could not be saved.

The Iranian Defense Ministry called the incident a terrorist attack.

According to FARS reports, citing eyewitnesses, an explosion occurred at the scene of the assassination attempt, after which the attackers fired at the scientist's car.

According to the agency, several more people could have died during the assassination attempt.

Adviser to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Hossein Dehga, commenting on the incident, said that Tehran would respond to the murder of the scientist.

“We will strike lightning upon the murderers of the martyr,” he said.

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At the same time, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Israel could be involved in the attack.

“This is cowardice with strong indications of Israeli involvement, which speaks of the desperate belligerence of the criminals,” he said.

The head of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Mohammad Bagheri, also accused Israel of involvement in the attack, expressed condolences to the scientist's relatives and promised to give an answer to those involved in the murder of Fakhrizada.

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The news of the death of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was reacted by US President Donald Trump, who retweeted several entries of other users about the attack in his microblog.

One of these reports, authored by Israeli journalist Yossi Melman, claims that the Iranian scientist has been the target of the Israeli intelligence service MOSSAD for many years.

Trump did not add any comments of his own about the incident. 

At the same time, the Pentagon did not comment on the murder of the scientist.

This was stated by an official representative of the department in a conversation with a TASS correspondent.

“We have nothing for you about this,” he said.

It is worth noting that in 2013, Fakhrizade was included in the list of "500 most influential people on the planet", compiled by Foreign Policy. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in 2018 that Fahrizadeh was the leader of the Iranian nuclear weapons project.

The assassination of Qasem Soleimani

Recall that on the night of January 3, as a result of a US special operation in the vicinity of Baghdad airport, the Iranian General of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qasem Soleimani was killed.

The Pentagon said that the attack was carried out on the orders of President Donald Trump, since, according to the American side, the general was involved in the anti-American protests in Baghdad, during which riots broke out and the United States embassy was damaged.

In addition, the Pentagon stated that Soleimani was allegedly responsible for the attacks on the US military and diplomats in Iraq.

Trump himself, in an interview with Fox News, said that Qasem Soleimani was planning attacks on American embassies in four countries.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President of the Islamic Republic Hassan Rouhani denied the accusations and promised a tough response to the general's assassination.

Soleimani's assassination has been condemned by many world leaders, including the presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In a joint statement following the Istanbul talks, the leaders called the assassination of the general by US forces an act that undermined security in the region.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the assassination of the Iranian military leader "goes beyond all international legal and simply human framework" and is the "culmination of unlawful actions" by Washington.

After the death of the general, the world community also called on the United States and Iran to restrain themselves.

Nevertheless, Iran carried out an operation called "Martyr of Soleimani", during which the Iranian Armed Forces launched a series of missile strikes on American military installations in neighboring Iraq. 

In response to the strikes on the bases, Donald Trump imposed new economic sanctions on Iran.