Iran scientist assassination designed by a terrorist regime with aggression in its DNA: FM Zarif

The Iranian foreign minister says the country’s prominent nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated by a terrorist regime with aggression in its DNA.

In a tweet on Saturday, Mohammad Javad Zarif said the “terror attack” against the Iranian physicist was “indubitably designed & planned by a terrorist regime & executed by criminal accomplices.”

Terror attack on our scientist was indubitably designed & planned by a terrorist regime & executed by criminal accomplices.
Shameful that some refuse to stand against terrorism and hide behind calls for restraint.
Impunity emboldens a terrorist regime with aggression in its DNA.

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) November 28, 2020

He lashed out at those who refrain from fighting acts of terror and said, “Shameful that some refuse to stand against terrorism and hide behind calls for restraint.”

The top Iranian diplomat warned that “impunity emboldens a terrorist regime with aggression in its DNA," alluding to the Israeli regime. 

Fakhrizadeh, who headed the Iranian Defense Ministry’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), was targeted on Friday in a multi-pronged attack involving at least one explosion and small fire by a number of assailants in Absard city of Damavand County, Tehran Province.

Iranian government officials and military commanders have hinted that the Israeli regime could have been behind the terror attack, vowing harsh revenge against all the criminals involved.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that Israel was behind the assassination, citing three US officials.

US officials say Israel was behind the assassination: New York Times

Three US officials have said that Israel was behind the assassination of Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in a terrorist attack near the capital Tehran, according to a report.

“One American official — along with two other intelligence officials — said that Israel was behind the attack on the scientist,” the paper said. 

“It was unclear how much the United States may have known about the operation in advance, but the two nations are the closest of allies and have long shared intelligence regarding Iran,” it added.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday warned of a plot hatched by Israel to incite chaos in the region, vowing that Tehran will at the proper time respond to the assassination of its prominent nuclear scientist.

Iran will respond to scientist’s assassination in due time: Rouhani

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani warns of a plot hatched by Israel to incite chaos in the region, vowing that Tehran will at the proper time respond to the assassination of its prominent nuclear scientist.

“Our people are wiser than to fall in the trap of the Zionists’ conspiracy. They are thinking of creating chaos and unrest, but they should know that we have already read their hands and that they will not succeed in achieving their evil objectives,” Rouhani told a cabinet meeting.

Syrian FM, Hamas leader condemn Fakhrizadeh’s assassination

Meanwhile, in separate phone calls with Zarif, the Syrian foreign minister, Faisal al-Mekdad, and the head of the political bureau of the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, condemned the terrorist act against the eminent Iranian nuclear physicist by suspected Israel-tied terrorists.

Earlier in the day, in a meeting with Iran's Ambassador to Damascus Javad Torkabadi, the Syrian foreign minister said the Islamic Republic is capable of confronting terrorist crimes led by the Israeli regime.

Iran able to confront Israeli-led terror crimes, desperate attempts to undermine its progress: Syria

The Syrian foreign minister says Iran is capable of confronting terrorist crimes led by the Israeli regime.

The Syrian minister warned that such crimes would have impacts on the entire world because they are not just an act of assassination but rather a terrorist move that the international community must condemn.

Read more: 

• International community must condemn state terrorism, counter adventurism: Iran’s Zarif

• EU condemns assassination of senior Iranian nuclear scientist as ‘criminal act’

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