Iran's leader promises retaliation for nuclear scientist's killing

[rooster59]

Iran's leader promises retaliation for nuclear scientist's killing

By Parisa Hafezi

 

FILE PHOTO: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks live on television after casting his ballot in the Iranian presidential election in Tehran June 12, 2009. REUTERS/Caren Firouz/File Photo

 

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's supreme leader promised on Saturday to retaliate for the killing of the Islamic Republic's top nuclear scientist, who the West and Israel believed was the architect of a secret Iranian programme to make weapons.

 

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's top authority who says Tehran has never sought nuclear arms, also pledged in his statement on Twitter to continue the work of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who died on Friday after gunman ambushed him in his car near Tehran.

 

The killing, which Iran's president was swift to blame on Israel, threatens to spark a new Middle East confrontation in the final weeks of U.S. President Donald Trump's term.

 

It could also complicate any efforts by President-elect Joe Biden to revive a detente with Tehran that was forged when he was in Barack Obama's administration. Trump pulled Washington out of the 2015 international nuclear pact agreed with Tehran.

 

Khamenei said in his Twitter post that Iranian officials must take up the task of "pursuing this crime and punishing its perpetrators and those who commanded it."

 

Israel's N12 news channel said Israeli embassies had been put on high alert after the Iranian threats of retaliation. An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said the minister did not comment on security regarding its representation abroad.

 

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told a televised cabinet meeting that Iran would respond "at the proper time."

 

"Once again, the evil hands of Global Arrogance and the Zionist mercenaries were stained with the blood of an Iranian son," he said, using terms officials employ to refer to Israel.

 

Israel has declined to comment on the killing. The White House, Pentagon, U.S. State Department and CIA also declined to comment, as did Biden's transition team.

 

"Whether Iran is tempted to take revenge or whether it restrains itself, it will make it difficult for Biden to return to the nuclear agreement," Amos Yadlin, a former Israeli military intelligence chief and director of Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, wrote on Twitter.

 

Under the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear work in return for the lifting of sanctions. Since Trump withdrew in 2018, U.S. sanctions have been ramped up, driving down Iran's vital oil exports and crippling the economy. Tehran, meanwhhile, has sped up its nuclear work.

 

'REMEMBER THAT NAME'

 

At least four scientists were killed between 2010 and 2012 in what Tehran said was a programme of assassinations aimed at sabotaging its nuclear energy programme. Iran has always denied pursuing nuclear weapons, saying its aims are only peaceful.

 

The semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that an explosive-laden car exploded near Fakhrizadeh's vehicle and one of the assassins then sprayed it bullets. The scientist was taken to a hospital nearby, where he died.

 

Fakhrizadeh had no public profile, but was thought to have headed what the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), U.N. nuclear watchdog, and the U.S. intelligence services believe was Iran's nuclear arms programme, shelved in 2003.

 

He was the only Iranian scientist named in the IAEA's 2015 "final assessment" of open questions about Iran's nuclear programme. It said he oversaw activities "in support of a possible military dimension to (Iran's) nuclear programme".

 

He was a central figure in a presentation by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018 accusing Iran of continuing to seek nuclear weapons. "Remember that name, Fakhrizadeh," Netanyahu said at the time.

 

U.S. intelligence services and the International Atomic Energy Agency believe Iran halted its coordinated weapons programme in 2003.

 

The IAEA has said it had no credible indications of activities in Iran relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device after 2009.

 

(Additional reporting by Francois Murphy in Vienna and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Frances Kerry and Edmund Blair)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-11-28

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

 

 

[Dumbastheycome]

An assassination and an act of terrorism by any standards.

The timing and  the  very recent activities  of  prominent individuals in various diplomatic and political acts which in equally  various ways have  complicated and antagonized issues globally and internally  for the USA are a  puerile , spiteful and vindictive response and directive from a proven confirmed loser pandering  to self and sycophantic enablers  under the  pretext of  "leadership'  !!

 

[oompie69]

1 hour ago, Dumbastheycome said:

An assassination and an act of terrorism by any standards.

The timing and  the  very recent activities  of  prominent individuals in various diplomatic and political acts which in equally  various ways have  complicated and antagonized issues globally and internally  for the USA are a  puerile , spiteful and vindictive response and directive from a proven confirmed loser pandering  to self and sycophantic enablers  under the  pretext of  "leadership'  !!

 

And when retribution comes, they blame the other side. I doubt that the USA did this themselves , they are far to fond of getting proxies to fight their wars for them. Pathetic warmongering at its worst.

[billd766]

3 hours ago, Dumbastheycome said:

An assassination and an act of terrorism by any standards.

The timing and  the  very recent activities  of  prominent individuals in various diplomatic and political acts which in equally  various ways have  complicated and antagonized issues globally and internally  for the USA are a  puerile , spiteful and vindictive response and directive from a proven confirmed loser pandering  to self and sycophantic enablers  under the  pretext of  "leadership'  !!

 

I would have said that it was premeditated murder by the state rather than an assassination, but still it was state sponsored terrorism.

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, billd766 said:

I would have said that it was premeditated murder by the state rather than an assassination, but still it was state sponsored terrorism.

Not sure the label really matters either way, but I think the more accurate label is an act of war. 

[billd766]

5 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Not sure the label really matters either way, but I think the more accurate label is an act of war. 

An act of war by whom?

 

Have either the USA or Iran declared war on each other?

[Jingthing]

6 minutes ago, billd766 said:

An act of war by whom?

 

Have either the USA or Iran declared war on each other?

Presumably by Israel and the USA towards Iran. If you're suggesting nations need to be under official declared wars to do acts of war, I think we live on different planets especially in regards to the U.S.  Also these kinds of acts can START full blown wars. Not saying this will, but as I said, military retaliation by Iran is justified, so it's not beyond imagination. 

 

We're actually not that far apart. I am just seeing this in the wider historical context which leads me to reject calling it terrorism. 

Edited November 28, 2020 by Jingthing

[Justgrazing]

Iran should consider carefully their next move as this has the makings of a trap .. by responding with violence they will make it difficult for the incoming Biden administration to try and coral them back to the agreement they were signed upto that Trump discarded ..

It is inconceivable the U S would not have had some knowledge that something was going to happen when Trump was actively looking to use U S military power against Iran only recently .. 

[Scott]

Trolling post with graphic removed.   It's a discussion forum.

 

[Jingthing]

4 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

Iran should consider carefully their next move as this has the makings of a trap .. by responding with violence they will make it difficult for the incoming Biden administration to try and coral them back to the agreement they were signed upto that Trump discarded ..

It is inconceivable the U S would not have had some knowledge that something was going to happen when Trump was actively looking to use U S military power against Iran only recently .. 

Yes and its obvious that the relatively more moderate part of Iran's leadership knows that. But they will still be under pressure to retaliate. They can probably retaliate in some kind of measured way to save face so as not to make it impossible to renew talks with the.incomimg Biden administration. But they also might blow it.

[pegman]

48 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Yes and its obvious that the relatively more moderate part of Iran's leadership knows that. But they will still be under pressure to retaliate. They can probably retaliate in some kind of measured way to save face so as not to make it impossible to renew talks with the.incomimg Biden administration. But they also might blow it.

Seems to me this level of decision making  in Iran lies with one man. Very tough to determine how rational he is. To be on the safe side if I lived in the USA I would definitely stay out of tall buildings. A family member works in the hi-finance industry in mid-town Manhattan. Fortunately she is remote working from her home in the Lower West side. 

 

 Israel did not  endear itself with the Biden  administration with this move. Maybe they think that the Israel lobby is sufficiently strong to overcome this.  I wouldn't be so sure when dealing with someone with the extraordinary experience of someone like Biden 

[ezzra]

10 hours ago, billd766 said:

I would have said that it was premeditated murder by the state rather than an assassination, but still it was state sponsored terrorism.

Last week Thailand has released 3 Iranian terrorists that has tried to commandeer and take hostages the people at the Israeli embassy in Bkk back in 2012, they have failed and of them lost both legs In Thailand such terrorism act carry the mandatory death sentence but those Iranian were only charged with unlawfully keeping weapons and ammunition,

those terrorist wear let go in an exchange deal between Australia ,Iran and  Israel  and the Thai government whereby an Australian citizen, who was arrested in Iran on "espionage" charges because her husband is an Israeli, so, so much for state sponsored terrorism my friend as Iran is the number one country in the world at it....

[ezzra]

5 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Yes and its obvious that the relatively more moderate part of Iran's leadership knows that. But they will still be under pressure to retaliate. They can probably retaliate in some kind of measured way to save face so as not to make it impossible to renew talks with the.incomimg Biden administration. But they also might blow it.

If they will retaliate, it will probably after Trump is gone as he is just itching for an excuse to hit Iran before he leaves office...

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, ezzra said:

If they will retaliate, it will probably after Trump is gone as he is just itching for an excuse to hit Iran before he leaves office...

Perhaps but I don’t get the logic of that timing from their POV. They might think Biden is less likely to overreact but that would still block any hopes of a reset on negotiations.

[Proboscis]

11 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Not sure the label really matters either way, but I think the more accurate label is an act of war. 

 

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

If they will retaliate, it will probably after Trump is gone as he is just itching for an excuse to hit Iran before he leaves office...

 

11 hours ago, billd766 said:

An act of war by whom?

 

Have either the USA or Iran declared war on each other?

And it it is an act of undeclared war, it is by international law a war crime. So, make the choice: either it is an act of terrorism or a war crime.

[Ireland32]

Yeah Yeah Yeah , The Thugs of The Middle East , Constantly undermining govts in ME 

[pacovl46]

19 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Not sure the label really matters either way, but I think the more accurate label is an act of war. 

Only, they aren’t officially at war...

[Traubert]

32 minutes ago, pacovl46 said:

Only, they aren’t officially at war...

Yet.

 

America won't pick a fight with anyone who has nuclear weapons. Everyone else is fair game.

[soalbundy]

35 minutes ago, Traubert said:

Yet.

 

America won't pick a fight with anyone who has nuclear weapons. Everyone else is fair game.

Atomic weapons and men wearing flip flops are to be avoided at all costs.

[Jingthing]

2 hours ago, pacovl46 said:

Only, they aren’t officially at war...

So what?

Who ever said countries need to be officially at war to be at war?

 

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/when-congress-once-used-its-powers-to-declare-war/

[The Theory]

It seems it just declared war between TV members. ????????????????????

[pacovl46]

11 hours ago, Jingthing said:

So what?

Who ever said countries need to be officially at war to be at war?

 

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/when-congress-once-used-its-powers-to-declare-war/

As long as they aren’t officially at war it’s not an act of war, it’s either an assassination or a terrorist attack.

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, pacovl46 said:

As long as they aren’t officially at war it’s not an act of war, it’s either an assassination or a terrorist attack.

I disagree.

 

When the U S. bombed North Vietnam over the course of several years, those weren't acts of war?

 

Seriously?

[pacovl46]

7 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I disagree.

 

When the U S. bombed North Vietnam over the course of several years, those weren't acts of war?

 

Seriously?

Really?! Wow!! America officially and with the full support of its public went to Vietnam to support their official ally South Vietnam in their war against North Vietnam and by extension the spread of communism from the American point of view!

 

On the other hand, I don’t see anyone officially supporting the assassination of the Iranian guy!

[Jingthing]

2 hours ago, pacovl46 said:

Really?! Wow!! America officially and with the full support of its public went to Vietnam to support their official ally South Vietnam in their war against North Vietnam and by extension the spread of communism from the American point of view!

 

On the other hand, I don’t see anyone officially supporting the assassination of the Iranian guy!

The U.S. never declared war against North Vietnam. Its not true that that war had full support of the public either. 

[Traubert]

2 hours ago, pacovl46 said:

Really?! Wow!! America officially and with the full support of its public went to Vietnam to support their official ally South Vietnam in their war against North Vietnam and by extension the spread of communism from the American point of view!

 

On the other hand, I don’t see anyone officially supporting the assassination of the Iranian guy!

How did that go again?

[pacovl46]

11 hours ago, Jingthing said:

The U.S. never declared war against North Vietnam. Its not true that that war had full support of the public either. 

Yeah, but North Vietnam was officially at war with South Vietnam and South Vietnam was an official ally of the US and the US had the majority of the public support and their involvement in the war was sanctioned by the American congress via the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Either way, it was an official war. Again, absolutely nothing official about the assassination of the Iranian guy whatsoever and therefore not act of war! 

Edited December 1, 2020 by pacovl46

[pacovl46]

11 hours ago, Traubert said:

How did that go again?

The Americans got their asses handed to them, lost the support of the American public and had to withdraw, leaving their allies all to themselves, who subsequently lost the war and thanks to that Vietnam has been a communist country since then.

[Scott]

Vietnam is off-topic.  Please get back to discussing Iran.