Iran says Israel, exiled group killed scientist

TEHRAN: Iran said that Israel and an exiled opposition group used new and “complex” methods to assassinate its leading nuclear scientist, as it buried him Monday in a funeral befitting a top “martyr”.

As it laid Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, seen by Israel as the “father” of Iran’s nuclear weapons programme, to rest, the Islamic republic also vowed to redouble his work. 

Fakhrizadeh died Friday after his car and bodyguards were targeted in a bomb and gun attack on a major road outside the capital, heightening tensions once more between Tehran and its foes.

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Iran’s top security official, Rear-Admiral Ali Shamkhani of the Supreme National Security Council, said the “operation was very complex, using electronic equipment and no one was present at the scene”.

The People’s Mujahedeen of Iran (MEK) were “certainly” involved, along with “the Zionist regime and the Mossad”, he said in video interviews, referring to the Israeli government and its spy agency.

With few details emerging of the attack itself, the scientist’s son said his mother was also in the targeted car but survived the attack.

Without citing sources, Fars news agency said the attack had been carried out with the help of “a remote-controlled automatic machinegun” mounted on a pickup truck.

State-run Press TV said “made in Israel” weapons were found at the scene.

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Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani had on Saturday accused Israel of acting as a “mercenary” for the United States by carrying out the assassination.

Fakhrizadeh’s funeral was attended by several high-ranking officials, including Defence Minister Amir Hatami and Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami.

As the funeral got underway, a religious singer praised Fakhrizadeh and alluded to the martyrdom of Imam Hossein, the revered 7th century holy figure from whom Shiite Muslims draw inspiration.

“If our enemies had not committed this heinous crime and spilled our dear martyr’s blood, he might have remained unknown,” Hatami said in a speech.

“But today, he who was only an idol for... his students and colleagues, is introduced to the whole world,” he added.

Hatami had said after the scientist’s death that Fakhrizadeh was one of his deputies and headed the ministry’s Defence Research and Innovation Organization, focusing on the field of “nuclear defence”.

In his speech, he said the government had decided to double the organisation’s budget to continue Fakhrizadeh’s path “vigorously”.

Iran’s President Rouhani has accused Israel of acting as a US “mercenary”, blaming it for the killing of Fakhrizadeh, and supreme leader Khamenei has called for the perpetrators to be punished.

Parliament on Sunday demanded a halt to international inspections of nuclear sites in the country, a step that could prove a fatal blow to the nuclear deal the Islamic republic agreed with world powers in 2015.