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<p class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#514142"><strong>Iran&#8217;s most senior nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated near the capital Tehran, Friday </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#514142"><strong>Iran defense ministry has confirmed Fakhrizadeh died in hospital after an attack in Absard, in Damavand </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#514142"><strong>His car was reportedly struck by an explosion set by a &#8220;suicide&#8221; assassin before being sprayed with bullets </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#514142"><strong>Fakhrizadeh, a professor of physics is the most renowned Iranian nuclear scientist and a senior officer of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#514142"><strong>Western intelligence agencies believe Fakhrizadeh was behind a covert Iranian nuclear weapons program </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#514142"><strong>Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, has condemned the killing &#8220;as an act of state terror&#8221;</strong></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Mohsen-Fakhrizadeh-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-361499"/><figcaption><strong>Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, [photo], head of Iran&#8217;s ministry of defense&#8217;s research and innovation organization died in hospital after an attack in Absard</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, head of Iran&#8217;s ministry of defense&#8217;s research and innovation organization died in hospital after an attack in Absard, in Damavand county, on Friday. <br>Fakhrizadeh&#8217;s car was reportedly struck by an explosion set by a &#8220;suicide&#8221; assassin before being sprayed with bullets in a brutal killing that is expected to spark harsh retaliation.<br>According to Iran state media, several other people have also died in the explosion. Disturbing photographs of the scene show the blood-soaked pavement and a black car punctured with bullets.<br>Reacting to the incident Iran&#8217;s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, condemned the killing &#8220;as an act of state terror&#8221;.<br>It comes amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East between ;<a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/where/iran/">Iran</a> ;and the US &#8211; along with its allies Israel and Saudi Arabia &#8211; over the Islamic Republic&#8217;s quest for nuclear weapons.<br>Iran has vowed to &#8220;strike like thunder&#8221; on whoever carried out the attack.<br>Hossein Dehghan a top Iranian military adviser tweeted: &#8220;We will strike as thunder at the killers of this oppressed martyr and will make them regret their action&#8221;.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Mohsen-Fakhrizadeh-assassination-2.jpg" alt="This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Mohsen-Fakhrizadeh-assassination-2.jpg"/><figcaption><strong>Investigators at the scene of the attack in Damavand, near Tehran that killed Mohsen Fakhrizadeh</strong>.<strong> Iranian media reports said the attackers opened fire on the scientist in his car</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Western intelligence agencies believe Fakhrizadeh was behind a covert Iranian nuclear weapons program.<br>&#8220;If Iran ever chose to weaponize (enrichment), Fakhrizadeh would be known as the father of the Iranian bomb,&#8221; one Western diplomat told Reuters news agency in 2014.<br>Iran insists its nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes.<br>But news of the killing comes amid fresh concern about the increased amount of enriched uranium that the country is producing. Enriched uranium is a vital component for both civil nuclear power generation and military nuclear weapons.<br>A 2015 deal with six world powers had placed limits on its production, but since the Trump administration abandoned the deal in 2018, Iran has been deliberately reneging on its agreements.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Mohsen-Fakhrizadeh-assassination-scene-2.jpg" alt="This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Mohsen-Fakhrizadeh-assassination-scene-2.jpg"/><figcaption><strong>Chaotic scene at  ;site of the suspected car bombing that killed Mohsen Fakhrizadeh</strong> <strong>in Damavand on Friday</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Announcing the assassination&#8217;s of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran&#8217;s defense ministry in a statement on Friday, said: &#8220;Armed terrorists targeted a vehicle carrying Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, head of the ministry&#8217;s research and innovation organization.<br>&#8220;After a clash between the terrorists and his bodyguards, Mr Fakhrizadeh was severely injured and rushed to hospital.<br>&#8220;Unfortunately, the medical team&#8217;s efforts to save him were unsuccessful and minutes ago he passed away.&#8221;<br>Iranian media reports said the attackers opened fire on the scientist in his car.<br>Fars news agency earlier reported there was a car explosion in Absard town, with witnesses reporting that &#8220;three to four individuals, who are said to have been terrorists, were killed&#8221;.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Mohsen-Fakhrizadeh-assassination-scene.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-361514"/><figcaption><strong>Iran&#8217;s Fars news agency reported a car explosion in Absard town, where &#8220;three to four individuals, who are said to have been terrorists, were killed&#8221;</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Fakhrizadeh was targeted because as head of the ministry of defense&#8217;s research and innovation organization, He was clearly still a key player. Hence Benjamin Netanyahu&#8217;s warning, two years ago, to &#8220;remember his name&#8221;<br>Fakhrizadeh is the most renowned Iranian nuclear scientist and a senior officer of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.<br>He has long been spoken about by Western security sources as extremely powerful and instrumental in Iran&#8217;s nuclear program.<br>A professor of physics, Fakhrizadeh is said to have led Project Amad, the alleged covert program that was established in 1989 to research the potential for building a nuclear bomb. It was shut down in 2003, according to the IAEA, though Netanyahu said the documents retrieved in 2018 showed Fakhrizadeh led a program which secretly continued Project Amad&#8217;s work.<br>The IAEA has long wanted to speak to him as part of its investigations into Iran&#8217;s nuclear program</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Mohsen-Fakhrizadeh-3.jpg" alt="This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Mohsen-Fakhrizadeh-3.jpg" width="572" height="378"/><figcaption><strong>Fakhrizadeh, a</strong> <strong>professor of physics, reportedly led Project Amad, the alleged covert program that was established in 1989 to research the potential for building a nuclear bomb</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">According to secret documents obtained by Israel in 2018, he led a program to create nuclear weapons.<br>At the time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he identified Fakhrizedeh as the head scientist in the program, and urged people to &#8220;remember that name&#8221;<br>Between 2010 and 2012, four Iranian nuclear scientists were assassinated and Iran has accused Israel of complicity in the killings.<br>Fakhrizadeh&#8217;s name was specifically mentioned in Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu&#8217;s presentation about Iran&#8217;s nuclear program in May 2018.<br>There has been no comment from Israel on the news of the assassination. The Pentagon has also declined to comment, according to Reuters.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Mohsen-Fakhrizadeh-assassination-location-4.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-361512"/><figcaption><strong>Aerial shot showing activity at Iran&#8217;s Natanz Nuclear Facility ;</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Since Iran started breaching its commitments under the terms of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the country has moved ahead rapidly, building stockpiles of low-enriched uranium and enriching to a purity above the level permitted under the deal.<br>Iranian officials have always said such moves are reversible, but developments in research and development are harder to eradicate.<br>&#8220;We cannot go backwards,&#8221; Iran&#8217;s former ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said recently.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Zarif-tweet-on-Mohsen-Fakhrizadeh-assassination-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-361524"/><figcaption><strong>&#8220;Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today,&#8221; &#8211; Iran&#8217;s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">If Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was the key player Israel alleges, then his death could represent someone&#8217;s effort to put the brakes on Iran&#8217;s forward momentum.<br>With the US president-elect, Joe Biden, talking about taking Washington back into the deal with Iran, the assassination could also be aimed at complicating any future negotiations.<br>Iran is furious at the assassination: &#8220;Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today,&#8221; ;<a href="https://twitter.com/JZarif/status/1332345633425022976">Iran&#8217;s foreign minister said in a tweet.</a><br>&#8220;This cowardice &#8211; with serious indications of Israeli role &#8211; shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators.&#8221;<br>Zarif called on the international community to &#8220;condemn this act of state terror&#8221;.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Mohsen-Fakhrizadehs-car-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-361515"/><figcaption><strong>The scene of the attack in Damavand, near Tehran show blood-soaked road and bullet holes in the car</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Maj Gen Hossein Salami has said that Iran will avenge the killing of the scientist.<br>&#8220;Assassination of nuclear scientists is the most obvious violation of the global hegemony to prevent our access to modern sciences,&#8221; said Gen Salami.</p>

Iran vows retaliation after it’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, is assassinated near the capital Tehran on Friday
