Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a top nuclear scientist, killed by Israel in 2020 near Tehran, played a pivotal role in presenting evidence to drop accusations related to the presence of military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program, according to Iran's army chief, Major General Amir Hatami.
“His role was successful,” Hatami told the Iranian Revolution Documentation Center on Saturday.
Fakhrizadeh was on Mossad’s list of targets for years, described as a top figure in Iran's nuclear weapons program and the mastermind behind it.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had mentioned Fakhrizadeh by name in a press conference in April 2018, more than two years before the scientist's assassination.
Hatami spoke about Fakhrizadeh’s role in the nuclear talks file.
“He knew how to deal with Americans based on the fact that they change their positions according to their interests...Today, this fact has become clear to all Iranians,” the army chief said.
Hatami argued that based on this view, Fakhrizadeh established a committee that reviewed Iran’s obligations in international agreements. “He also believed that taking the right decision will protect Iranian national interests on the long term,” Hatami added.
The army chief said that while at the time, Iran was accused of seeking military dimensions for its nuclear program, “Fakhrizadeh played a fundamental role in presenting legal and technical evidence that proved Iran’s nuclear program was peaceful.”
He noted that although the nuclear deal has dropped accusations related to the military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program, the Zionist entity made, and still exert great efforts to prove that the international community has made a mistake in this assessment.
“Today, Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency have still not agreed on this point,” Hatami said.
