According to the narrations regarding the incident that took place on 28 November, Fakhrizadeh, the armored vehicle carrying him and his wife, moved from Mazenderan to Damavand Abeserd with the vehicles of three protection teams. The guards aimed to control the point where the other accompanying team was located a few kilometers from the scene and to eliminate any negativity. When Fakrizadeh arrived at the site of the assassination, after the sound of a few bullets hit the vehicle, he thought there was a problem with the engine of the vehicle and stopped his car. Just then, the Nissan brand vehicle, which stood 150 meters from the vehicle, fired several shots at the Fakrizadeh with an automatic remote-controlled machine gun. Meanwhile, Fakhrizadeh was hit by two bullets from the side and one from the back into his spinal cord. In the attack, his bodyguard was injured by taking a shield against Fakhrizadeh.
Who is Mohsen Fahkrizadeh?
He was a brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Army, an academic physicist, and a senior official in Iran's nuclear program. He was a professor of physics at Tehran Imam Hussein University. Born in Kum in 1958, Fakhrizadeh joined the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Army after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. He entered Shahid Beheshti University, then received his doctorate from the University of Isfahan. He entered Imam Hossein University in 1991 and worked as a physics professor there until his death. Although Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was not recognized by the Iranian people until his death on Friday, he was someone who followed Iran's nuclear program.
Why was Fahkrizadeh Important?
Fakhrizadeh was the best known of Iran's nuclear scientists and held a senior position in the Revolutionary Guards Army. In the secret documents announced by Israel, it was noted that Fahrizade was the head of Iran's nuclear program. In 2015, the New York Times newspaper compared Fakhrizadeh to J. Robert Oppenheimer, head of the Manhattan Project, which developed the first atomic bomb during World War II. "If Iran continues its uranium enrichment program, Fakhrizadeh will be known as the father of the Iran bomb," a diplomat told the Reuters news agency in 2014. Fakhrizadeh's name also came to the fore in the presentation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran's nuclear program in 2018. Netanyahu called Fakhrizadeh's name and said, "Don't forget this name." Between 2010 and 2012, four Iranian nuclear scientists were assassinated, and the Tehran administration blamed Israel for these actions.
Impact and Response
Following the assassination of Mohsin Fakhrizadeh, the law for increasing nuclear activity was passed by the Iranian parliament. With the law approved by the Constitutional Protection Council of Iran, the Tehran administration gives the European countries, signatories of the 2015 Nuclear Agreement, two months to ease the embargoes imposed on the oil and financial sectors after the USA withdrew from the agreement in 2018. If embargoes are not eased during this time, the government is envisioned to increase the enrichment rate of uranium to 20 percent and install advanced centrifuges used to enrich uranium at the Natanz and Fordow nuclear facilities. Besides, UN inspectors are prohibited from entering these facilities. Before the law was approved, President Rouhani said his government did not support what he described as "detrimental to diplomacy."
Bibliography
Aggarwal, Mayank. “Iran Says Weapon Used to Kill Top Nuclear Scientist Was 'Made in Israel'.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 30 Nov. 2020, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-nuclear-scientist-kill-weapon-israel-b1763919.html
Atwood, Kylie. “US Official Says Israel Was behind Assassination of Iranian Scientist.” CNN, Cable News Network, 2 Dec. 2020, edition.cnn.com/2020/12/02/politics/iran-scientist-israel-assassination-us/index.html
Fassihi, Farnaz, et al. “Live Updates: Iran's Top Nuclear Scientist Killed in Attack, State Media Say.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 27 Nov. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/11/27/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-scientist-assassinated-mohsen-fakhrizadeh.html
Gardner, Frank. “Mohsen Fakhrizadeh: Iran Scientist 'Killed by Remote-Controlled Weapon'.” BBC News, BBC, 30 Nov. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-55128970
"Spokesman: Int'l Judicial Bodies to Prosecute Perpetrators of Assassination of Iranian N. Scientist". Fars News Agency , Nov. 2020, www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13990918000738/Spkesman-In%E2%80%99l-Jdicial-Bdies-Prsece-Perperars-f-Assassinain-f-Iranian
“Top Iranian Nuclear Scientist Assassinated near Tehran.” Middle East | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 28 Nov. 2020, www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/27/top-iranian-nuclear-scientist-killed-iran-armed-forces
