Iran Says Israel, Exiled Group Killed Scientist in Complex Operation

In this picture released by the Iranian Defense Ministry and taken on Nov. 28, 2020, caretakers carry the flag-draped coffin of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh during a funeral ceremony in Mashhad, Iran. (AP)
In this picture released by the Iranian Defense Ministry and taken on Nov. 28, 2020, caretakers carry the flag-draped coffin of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh during a funeral ceremony in Mashhad, Iran. (AP)
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Iran Says Israel, Exiled Group Killed Scientist in Complex Operation

In this picture released by the Iranian Defense Ministry and taken on Nov. 28, 2020, caretakers carry the flag-draped coffin of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh during a funeral ceremony in Mashhad, Iran. (AP)
In this picture released by the Iranian Defense Ministry and taken on Nov. 28, 2020, caretakers carry the flag-draped coffin of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh during a funeral ceremony in Mashhad, Iran. (AP)

Iran said that Israel and an exiled opposition group used new and "complex" methods to assassinate its leading nuclear scientist, as it buried him Monday in a funeral befitting a top "martyr".

As it laid Mohsen Fakhrizadeh -- seen by Israel as the "father" of Iran's nuclear weapons program -- to rest, the country also vowed to redouble his work.

Fakhrizadeh died Friday after his car and bodyguards were targeted in a bomb and gun attack on a major road outside the capital, heightening tensions once more between Tehran and its foes.

Iran's top security official, Rear-Admiral Ali Shamkhani of the Supreme National Security Council, said the "operation was very complex, using electronic equipment and no one was present at the scene".

The People's Mujahedeen of Iran (MEK) were "certainly" involved, along with "the Zionist regime and the Mossad", he said in video interviews, referring to the Israeli government and its spy agency.

With few details emerging of the attack itself, the scientist's son said his mother was also in the targeted car but survived the attack.

Without citing sources, Fars news agency said the attack had been carried out with the help of "a remote-controlled automatic machinegun" mounted on a pickup truck.

State-run Press TV said "made in Israel" weapons were found at the scene.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani had on Saturday accused Israel of acting as a "mercenary" for the United States by carrying out the assassination.

‘Martyr’
Fakhrizadeh's funeral was attended by several high-ranking officials, including Defense Minister Amir Hatami and Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami.

"If our enemies had not committed this heinous crime and spilled our dear martyr's blood, he might have remained unknown," Hatami said in a speech.

"But today, he who was only an idol for... his students and colleagues, is introduced to the whole world," he added, saying he would be an inspiration for "all who embark on the path to fight".

"The enemies should know that this is their first defeat."

Hatami had said after the scientist's death that Fakhrizadeh was one of his deputies and headed the ministry's Defense Research and Innovation Organization, focusing on the field of "nuclear defense".

In his speech, he said the government had decided to double the organization’s budget to continue Fakhrizadeh's path "vigorously".

A large display showed a picture of Fakhrizadeh next to Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, as well as former top general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a January drone strike by the US in Baghdad.

Iran weighs retaliation
The assassination has led to demands for a strong response from Iran's leadership and calls by some conservative lawmakers to avoid entering potential negotiations with the United States, even as the hawkish presidency of Donald Trump draws to a close.

Iran's President Rouhani has accused Israel of acting as a US "mercenary", blaming it for the killing of Fakhrizadeh, and Khamenei has called for the perpetrators to be punished.

Parliament on Sunday demanded a halt to international inspections of nuclear sites in the country, a step that could prove a fatal blow to the nuclear deal Tehran agreed with world powers in 2015.

Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and began reimposing crippling sanctions, but US President-elect Joe Biden has promised a return to diplomacy.

Rouhani has emphasized Iran will seek its revenge for the assassination in "due time" and not be rushed into a "trap".

The US slapped sanctions on Fakhrizadeh in 2008 for "activities and transactions that contributed to the development of Iran's nuclear program".

Around a year after the US withdrew from the nuclear deal, it began gradually abandoning most of its key commitments under the agreement.

The funeral was not open to the public in order to maintain health protocols over the novel coronavirus pandemic, the defense ministry said.

The scientist's coffin was buried at Imamzadeh Saleh, an important Shiite shrine in northern Tehran where two other slain nuclear scientists were buried in 2010 and 2011.



Israel Warns of ‘Prolonged’ War Against Iran

This picture shows the heavily damaged building of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) after it was hit a few days earlier in an Israeli strike, in Tehran, on June 19, 2025. (AFP)
This picture shows the heavily damaged building of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) after it was hit a few days earlier in an Israeli strike, in Tehran, on June 19, 2025. (AFP)
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Israel Warns of ‘Prolonged’ War Against Iran

This picture shows the heavily damaged building of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) after it was hit a few days earlier in an Israeli strike, in Tehran, on June 19, 2025. (AFP)
This picture shows the heavily damaged building of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) after it was hit a few days earlier in an Israeli strike, in Tehran, on June 19, 2025. (AFP)

Israel's war against Iran, now in its second week, will be "prolonged", military chief Eyal Zamir said Friday as the arch rivals traded fire and European powers held talks with the country.

"We must be ready for a prolonged campaign," Zamir told Israelis in a video statement, eight days after his country launched a massive wave of strikes it said aimed at stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons -- an ambition Tehran has denied.

"We have embarked on the most complex campaign in our history to remove a threat of such magnitude," said Zamir.

"The campaign is not over. Although we have made significant achievements, difficult days still lie ahead."

Iran has responded with barrages of missiles and drones, which Israeli authorities say have killed at least 25 people.

A hospital in the Israeli port of Haifa reported 19 injured, including one person in serious condition, after the latest Iranian salvo, which President Isaac Herzog said hit a mosque.

Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people since June 13, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.

As US President Donald Trump mulls the prospect of entering the war between the two foes, top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany were meeting with their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Friday.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the Europeans were "putting a diplomatic solution on the table".

On the ground, Israel's military said it struck missile launchers in southwestern Iran after overnight air raids on dozens of targets including what it called a "nuclear weapons project" research and development center.

In Israel, sirens sounded in the afternoon after missiles were launched from Iran for the second time on Friday, with a military official saying that "approximately 20 missiles were launched towards Israel".

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted military sites and air forces bases.

- 'Betrayal' of diplomacy -

Trump has said he will decide "within the next two weeks" whether to involve the United States in the fighting.

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy said "a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution", while agreeing with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that "Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon".

Western governments suspect Iran of seeking a nuclear weapons capability.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said that while Iran is the only country without nuclear weapons to enrich uranium to 60 percent, there was no evidence it had all the components to make a functioning nuclear warhead.

"So, saying how long it would take for them, it would be pure speculation because we do not know whether there was somebody... secretly pursuing these activities," the agency's chief Rafael Grossi told CNN.

"We haven't seen that and we have to say it."

France's foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine said that "military solutions are not long-term solutions" to ensure Iran respects its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Addressing the UN Human Rights Council on Friday, Araghchi said Israel's attacks were a "betrayal" of diplomatic efforts to reach a nuclear deal between Tehran and Washington.

"We were attacked in the midst of an ongoing diplomatic process," he said.

In an interview with German publication Bild, Israel's top diplomat Gideon Saar said he did not "particularly" believe in diplomacy with Iran.

"All diplomatic efforts so far have failed," said Saar, whose country had supported Trump's 2018 decision to abandon a previous nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers.

- 'Madness' -

The UN Security Council convened on Friday for a second session on the conflict, which was requested by Iran with support from Russia, China and Pakistan, a diplomat told AFP on Wednesday.

The escalating confrontation is quickly reaching "the point of no return", Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Friday, saying "this madness must end as soon as possible".

UN chief Antonio Guterres meanwhile pleaded with all sides to "give peace a chance".

Any US involvement in Israel's campaign would be expected to involve the bombing of an underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordo, using powerful bunker-busting bombs that no other country possesses.

In Iran, people fleeing Israel's attacks described frightening scenes and difficult living conditions, including food shortages.

Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said authorities had restricted internet access to avoid "problems" like cyberattacks.

Iranian authorities have arrested a European "who sought to spy on sensitive areas of the country", Tasnim news agency reported on Friday.

Protests were held in Tehran and other cities after Friday prayers, with demonstrators chanting slogans in support of their leaders, state television showed.

"I will sacrifice my life for my leader," read a protester's banner, a reference to supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Switzerland announced it was temporarily closing its embassy in Tehran, adding that it would continue to fulfil its role representing US interests in Iran.