Khamenei promises "revenge" for the killing of Iranian nuclear scientist Fakhrizadeh

The site of the attack that killed Fakhrizadeh.

Reuters

Yesterday, the Iranian leader, Ali Khamenei, threatened to avenge the killing of the most important nuclear scientist in Iran, whom the West and Israel believe is the mastermind of Tehran's secret nuclear program.

Khamenei pledged to continue the work of Mohsenzadeh, who was assassinated the day before yesterday, after a gunman ambushed his car near Tehran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani accused Israel of being responsible for the assassination of Zadeh, and stressed during a meeting of his country's government that "Iran will respond at the appropriate time," while the "N12" news channel reported yesterday that Israel raised the state of maximum alert in its embassies all over the world. After Iranian threats of revenge.

For its part, Germany urged all parties to exercise restraint and avoid escalating tension, which could derail any talks on Iran's nuclear program.

The German Foreign Ministry said: "A few weeks before the new US administration takes office, it is necessary to preserve the space for talking with Iran, in order to allow the dispute over the Iranian nuclear program to be settled through negotiations."

Iranian media reported that one of the militants sprayed Fakhrizadeh's car with bullets, after a car bomb exploded near his car.

The scientist was transported to a nearby hospital, where he died.

The International Atomic Energy Agency and US intelligence believe that Zadeh was heading what was suspected to be an Iranian nuclear weapons program, which was suspended in 2003.

Fakhrizadeh was the only Iranian scientist, whose name was mentioned in the "final evaluation" of the IAEA's inquiries in 2015 regarding the Iranian nuclear program, which remained unanswered.

This report stated that Fakhrizadeh had overseen activities "in support of a possible military dimension of Iran's nuclear program."

Zadeh was a central figure in a presentation by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018 accusing Iran of continuing to pursue nuclear weapons.

Netanyahu said at the time: "Remember this name, Fakhrizadeh."

Follow our latest local and sports news, and the latest political and economic developments via Google news