Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran in his official first statement on the assassination of Mohsen Fakhri Zade said the entire operation was “conducted using electronic equipment and there was nobody on the scene”.
He also added claims that Iran has “identified the person who planned the operation” and says Israel and the MEK (Mojahedin-e Khalq) group were involved.
MEK was founded on 5 September 1965 by leftist Iranian students affiliated with the Freedom Movement of Iran to oppose the U.S.-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The organization engaged in armed conflict with the Pahlavi dynasty in the 1970s and contributed to the overthrow of the Shah during the Iranian Revolution. It subsequently pursued the establishment of a democracy in Iran, particularly gaining support from Iran’s middle class intelligentsia.
Iran’s president has blamed Israel for the killing of a top nuclear scientist on Friday, and said it would not slow down the country’s nuclear programme.
Hassan Rouhani also said Iran would retaliate over Mohsen Fakhrizadeh’s killing at a time of its choosing.
An Israeli cabinet minister said he had “no clue” who was behind the ambush by gunmen on Mr Fakhrizadeh’s car.
Israel has previously accused the physicist of being key to a covert nuclear weapons programme.
Fakhrizadeh was Iran’s most renowned nuclear scientist, who headed the ministry of defence’s research and innovation organisation.
His killing threatens to escalate tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme with the US and its close ally Israel. BBC reported during the assassination of Fakhrizadeh happened.
source: BBC, Opinions, Wikipedia
