Iran's top nuclear scientist assassinated, Army Chief vows 'severe revenge'

Iran's armed forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri has vowed to take revenge against the perpetrators behind the assassination of the country's top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Bagheri warned of "severe revenge" against those behind the killing on Friday. "Terrorist groups and the leaders and the perpetrators of this cowardly attempt should know that severe revenge awaits them," Bagheri wrote in a tweet, as reported by Iranian news agency IRNA. 

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Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who is regarded as the architect of Iran's nuclear programme, was killed on November 27 in Absard, a village on the outskirts of capital Tehran that Iranian elites use as a retreat. Fakhrizadeh was reportedly attacked by at least five gunmen after his sedan stopped due to an explosion that occurred a few minutes ago near his car. Fakhrizadeh was taken to the hospital but doctors couldn't revive him as he was already brought dead.

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Iran blames Israel

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has blamed Israel for the killing as he called on the international community, especially the European Union for their "shameful double standards" in not condemning the act of "state terror". This is not the first time that Tehran has accused Tel Aviv of carrying out an assassination in the Islamic Republic as in 2010 Iran had blamed Israel for killing another nuclear scientist Majid Shahriari. 

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According to reports, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018 had mentioned Fakhrizahed's name publicly, and said, "remember that name". Israel and the United States have been long tried to thwart the Iranian nuclear programme fearing threat to security in the region. 

The outgoing US President Donald Trump retweeted a post by an Israeli journalist Yossi Melman, who informed about Fakhrizahed's killing on the micro-blogging site and wrote, "His death is a major psychological and professional blow for Iran". The assassination took place months after Iran and the United States were on the brink of war over the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad by the US forces. 

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(Image Credit: AP)