Iran vows to avenge assassination of Fakhrizadeh

Iran vowed to avenge the death of top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was the target of an assassination that Tehran has claimed was carried out by Israeli “mercenaries” acting on behalf of Washington.

The accusation will stoke tensions with the United States just as Donald Trump prepares to leave the White House ahead of the arrival of Joe Biden, who will have to pick up the pieces if he is to succeed in improving relations with Tehran.

Iran’s regime is aware that the stakes are high. And yet it has spared no time in leveling threats against those it deems responsible for the assassination of Fakhrizadeh, considered by the West and Israel to have been the father of Iran’s former nuclear arms program.

Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, ordered authorities to “investigate this crime and firmly prosecute its perpetrators and its commanders,” who he described as “brutal mercenaries.”

There have been no arrests made so far in the operation to track down the assailants who opened fire on Fakhrizadeh’s vehicle on a highway near Tehran on Friday. Fakhrizadeh was injured in the attack and died later in the hospital.

The commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Hossein Salami, warned that those behind the killing of the scientist, who at the time was head of the investigation and innovation at the Ministry of Defence, would be met with “severe revenge.”

President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would retaliate, adding: “Once again, the evil hands of global arrogance were stained with the blood of the mercenary usurper Zionist regime."

In a televised address, Rouhani mentioned previous attacks on Iranian scientists between 2010-12, which Iran blamed on Israel’s secret intelligence service Mossad.

HIGH ALERT IN ISRAEL

Israeli authorities have not commented on the assassination but have ordered its embassies to be on high alert amid the specter of retaliatory attacks.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has recently urged the US not to return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, named Fakhrizadeh as a threat two years ago.

The New York Times cited a US civil servant and two intelligence sources as saying Israel was behind the attack, but Washington has yet to comment officially.

Both Netanyahu and Trump accused Tehran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons and said Iran never closed its secret atomic program in 2003, contrary to United Nations findings.

Iran’s regime says its nuclear program is purely peaceful.

Following the assassination, the UN said: “We call for restraint and believe it necessary to avoid measures that could lead to an escalation of tensions in the region.”

Some of Iran’s regional allies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, have voiced their protest over the killing.

The European Union released a statement saying: “An Iranian government official and several civilians were killed in a series of violent attacks. This is a criminal act and runs counter to the principle of respect for human rights the EU stands for.

“In these uncertain times, it is more important than ever for all parties to remain calm and exercise maximum restraint in order to avoid escalation which cannot be in anyone’s interest.”

Still fresh in the collective memory is the US assassination early this year of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Iraq. Tehran responded with missile attacks.

THE OBJECTIVE: CREATE CHAOS

“They are trying to create chaos and unrest, but they must know (...) that they will never achieve their wicked goals,” Rouhani said in his statement.

The Iranian president added that the “brutal assassination” showed that the US and Israel were anxious about Trump’s departure from the White House.

Biden is inclined to return to the historic 2015 nuclear deal, which saw Tehran trade in much of its nuclear program in exchange for an easing of international sanctions. The deal was signed by President Barack Obama, whom Biden served as Vice President.

Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 and proceeded to impose new sanctions on Tehran.

Although logic would suggest Iran should hold its nerve in the hope that Biden may help to remove Trump’s sanctions, conservative sectors of Iranian politics are pushing for a harder line.

Iranian lawmakers are poised to request on Saturday the end of the nuclear inspections carried out by the International Atomic Energy Agency, a requirement of the 2015 deal.