US official claims Israel behind assassination of top Iranian nuclear scientist: Report

A senior US administration official has said that Israel was behind the assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientists Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on November 27. The New York Times reported the US official, who wishes to remain anonymous, said Israel was behind the attack, but further declined to give details about whether the Trump administration knew about the attack before it was carried out or provided support. The official told the media outlet that previously Israelis have shared information with the United States about their targets and covert operations before carrying them out, however, he did not say if they did so in this instance as well. 

Following the assassination of Fakhrizadeh, Iran had blamed Israel for the attack and said that operation bore the hallmarks of Israel’s foreign intelligence agency. Iran has not provided any evidence to support their claim and Israel, on the other hand, has also neither denied nor claimed responsibility for Fakhrizadeh’s death. 

READ: Iran’s President Rejects Bill That Would Boost Enrichment

Meanwhile, the US official told the media outlet that President Donald Trump has given Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “carte blanche” to continue carrying out the administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign over the next two months. The official added that there will be more US sanctions on Iran this week and next. Further, he said that the threat level to Americans in the region has not increased since the attack, particularly because Iran is blaming Israel.

Israeli weapon was used to kill Fakhrizadeh

Earlier, Tehran’s English-language Press TV said on November 30 that the weapon used in the killing was made in Israel. An unnamed source revealed to Iranian state media that the weapon collected from the site where country’s top scientist was killed on November 27 “bears the logo and specifications of the Israeli military industry”. However, in an interview before the report was published, Israeli intelligence minister Eli cohen had told a radio station that he did not know who was responsible for the murder that heightened the tensions in the region.

READ: Iran Parliament Pushes Bill To End UN Nuclear Inspections After Scientist's Killing

Fakhrizadeh was killed last week in an armed attack that according to an Associated Press report, bore the fears of military-style ambush, likes of which Israel has been accused of carrying out in the past. The Friday incident in Iran not only ignited tensions in the region but Tehran also placed the blame of the murder on Israel and Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei demanding “definitive punishment”.

Meanwhile, during the nuclear scientist’s funeral in northern Tehran on November 30, the nation’s defence minister separately pledged to continue the Fakhrizadeh’s work “with more speed and more power.” Even though he had little public profile, Fakhrizadeh was reportedly named by Israel as a prime player in Iran’s nuclear weapon’s quest. In the early 2000s, he had founded the Islamic republic’s military nuclear program.

(Image: AP)

READ: Iran's Elite Force Commander Killed In Airstrike Near Iraq-Syria Border: Reports

READ: Iran's Top Official Calls Nuclear Scientist's Assassination 'complicated Operation'