Top Iranian nuclear scientist assassinated
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/27/top-iranian-nuclear-scientist-assassinated.html
WASHINGTON — A top Iranian nuclear scientist has been assassinated, Iran’s Foreign Ministry announced Friday.
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, dubbed the “father of the Iranian bomb,” died from his injuries after armed assassins fired upon his car, according to reports by Iranian media that have not been independently confirmed by NBC News.
State media shared photographs of a black Nissan sedan with multiple bullet holes through the windshield and bloodshed on the road next to the car door. No group has immediately claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif condemned the killing on Twitter and alleged “serious indications” of Israeli involvement.
Fakhrizadeh’s death comes just days before the 10-year anniversary of the killing of Iranian nuclear scientist Majid Shahriari, which Iran also blamed on Israel.
The Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
The Pentagon, Department of State and the National Security Council declined to comment. President Donald Trump did, however, retweet a news article and commentary about Fakhrizadeh’s death.
Little is known about Fakhrizadeh, a high-ranking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officer, long viewed as Iran’s top nuclear scientist overseeing the regime’s secret weapons programs.
In 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of continuing to develop nuclear weapons and said Fakhrizadeh was working within Iran’s Defense Ministry on “special projects”.
“Remember that name, Fakhrizadeh,” Netanyahu said at the time.
Fakhrizadeh’s death is expected to escalate tensions between Iran and the United States, which have soared under the Trump administration following Washington’s exit from the landmark Iran nuclear agreement.
Wonder if it has anything to do with that Axios report:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD36UzmCOnQ
Something is up that's for sure.
1. Israel has assassinated numerous Iranian nuclear scientists in the past but have never been able to get to the highly protected Fakhrizadeh.
2. Some Iranian reports claim it was a suicide attack, but the bullet holes in Fakhrizadeh’s car cast some doubt on that.
3. If it was a suicide bomb, then that reduces the likelihood of Israeli operatives carrying out the attack.
4. Israel has, however, used operatives from the Iranian terrorist organization the MEK in the past to conduct attacks in Iran. The MEK is the group that introduced suicide assassinations to Iran.
5. Israel is a prime suspect because of a few factors:
- It has the expertise and capacity.
- It has done it before.
- It has the motivation.
6. Let’s unpack the last point: Conducting attacks in Iran has few down-sides for Israel right now. Either Iran lashes out and sparks a broader conflict that sucks in the US, bringing about a US-Iran confrontation that Netanyahu long has sought.
7. If Iran sits tight and waits out the Trump presidency, Israel will not have lost much as Trump clearly has either given Israel the green light to attack Iran or at a minimum refuses to impose a cost on Israel for dragging the US to the brink of war with Iran.
8. Either way, the assassination (and other likely future attacks) will likely harden Iran’s position and complicate - if not hinder - the Biden team’s attempts to revive diplomacy. That serves Netanyahu’s interest as well.
9. Indeed, Tehran’s openness to post-JCPOA negotiations on missiles and other matters will likely diminish if Israel engages in assassinations in Iran or attacks Iranian targets elsewhere - such as in Syria.
10. In fact, the Obama administration CONDEMNED Israel’s earlier assassinations precisely because it knew the murders wouldn’t set back Iran’s nuclear program - their only intent and impact would be to set back diplomacy.
11. We are now in a worse situation for the next +50 days. The main impact of attacks of this kind will NOT be to set back Iran’s program but to render diplomacy for Biden more difficult. Trump will not push back against these attacks - he may even be encouraging and aiding them.
12. Be prepared for a very bumpy ride till Biden’s inauguration. And if it turns out that Israel was behind the assassination, have no illusions about Netanyahu’s desire to drag the US into another endless war in the Middle East.
January 3: Qassem Soleimani, head of the IRGC Quds Force, killed in Baghdad.
November 27: Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, father of Iran's nuclear [weapons] program, killed east of Tehran.