In the final days of their ally’s political life, Zionists seek to step up pressure on Iran and create a full-fledged war
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted “serious indications of Israeli role” and called on Western countries to “end their shameful double standard and condemn this act of state terror”.
US President Donald Trump and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Image: GETTY)
Iran accused Israel of murdering Mohsen Fakhrizadeh (Image: PA)
Mr. Fakhrizadeh has been described for years by Western and Israeli intelligence services as the head of a secret atomic bomb program that was halted in 2003, but which Israel and the United States believe Iran is attempting. to revive – accusations denied by Tehran.
A statement issued by the Iranian armed forces said: “Unfortunately, the medical team failed to revive Mr. Fakhrizadeh, and a few minutes ago this director and scientist achieved high martyrdom status after years of effort and struggle. ”
The semi-official Tasnim news agency suggested that “terrorists blew up another car” before shooting at a vehicle carrying Fakhrizadeh and his bodyguards in an ambush outside the capital.
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Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted about the incident (Image: Twitter)
Neither Israel, nor the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department or the CIA commented, and neither did Mr. Biden’s transition team.
Regardless of who was behind the attack, it is guaranteed that the already high tensions between Tehran and Washington will escalate in the final weeks of the Trump presidency.
In 2018, Mr. Trump withdrew the United States from a deal reached under Obama, his predecessor, whereby sanctions against Iran were lifted in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.
Mr Biden has said he will aim to restore that deal, although such a move would be highly controversial.
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President Joe Biden (Image: GETTY)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Image: GETTY)
Speculation is circulating that Mr. Trump may be plotting to target Iran in the final weeks of his White House tenure.
Earlier this month, a US official confirmed that the 74-year-old had asked military aides for a plan for a possible strike against Iran – but decided not to do so after being warned that it could spark a wider conflict in the Middle East.
In January, Mr. Trump ordered a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad that killed Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s most powerful military commander.
Iran retaliated by firing missiles at a US base in Iraq, the closest of the two enemies who have gone to war for decades.
Iranian military record (Image: Express)
Mr. Fakhrizadeh was the only Iranian scientist named in the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 2015 “final assessment” of open questions on Iran’s nuclear program.
The IAEA report says it has overseen activities “in support of a possible military dimension of Iran’s nuclear program.”
He was a central figure in a presentation by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018 accusing Iran of continuing to seek nuclear weapons.
Mr. Netanyahu commented: “Remember that name, Fakhrizadeh. “
Qassem Soleimani was killed by a US drone strike in January (Image: GETTY)
Speaking before the story broke today, before news of the Fakhrizadeh attack emerged, an Israeli official said Israel was discussing with the Arab Gulf states how to attack Iran.
Tzachi Hanegbi, who sits in Netanyahu’s security cabinet, told Tel Aviv’s 102 FM radio station: “The story is not Trump, not even Israel.
“The story is Iran – the growing fear that a new US administration will revert to the nuclear deal that threatens the very existence of the Gulf countries,” said Tzachi Hanegbi, who sits in the cabinet. Netanyahu’s security, on Tel Aviv’s 102 FM radio station.
“We will know how to deal with the issue of the Iranian threat, even if it is on our own. “
