Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, top Iranian nuclear scientist and senior officer in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), assassinated today in Absard, Iran (Wana News Agency/Reuters).
Top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was gunned down by unidentified assailants in the Iranian town of Absard, Iran at approximately 2:30 PM local time Friday. Fakhrizadeh was reportedly a leader in Iran’s nuclear missile program, and was also a Brigadier General in the regime’s infamous Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Fakhrizadeh was travelling with his bodyguard and several other companions, possibly relatives, when a Nissan pickup truck swerved in front of his vehicle and exploded. According to the most recent reports available, four motorcyclists then approached Fakhrizadeh’s vehicle and opened fire with automatic rifles, killing him and his bodyguard, who returned fire and may have struck one or more of the assassins. So far, no government entity or organization has claimed responsibility for the attack.
After initially claiming that Fakhrizadeh was safe, Iranian officials announced that he had been killed, with foreign minister Mohammad Zarif tweeting, “Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today. This cowardice — with serious indications of Israeli role — shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators.” Hossein Deghnan, an advisor to Iran’s Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a top presidential candidate in Iran’s upcoming elections also reacted strongly on Twitter, stating, “In the last days of their gambling ally’s [Donald Trump’s] political life, the Zionists seek to intensify and increase pressure on Iran to wage a full-blown war…We will descend like lightning on the killers of this oppressed martyr and we will make them regret their actions!”
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Both the Israeli and American governments have declined to comment on the incident, although US President Trump did retweet a report of the assassination on Twitter. In a press briefing about the Iranian nuclear program in 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu highlighted Fakhrizadeh’s role, calling on his listeners to “remember that name.” Fakhrizadeh is now the fifth Iranian nuclear scientist to be assassinated since Iran’s nuclear program became public almost two decades ago. Official statements from the Iranian government have vowed “severe revenge” and have reportedly selected three “regional” targets and two “international” targets for retaliatory strikes. Many analysts believe these strikes may come from areas under Iranian influence in the region, including Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, and will likely be directed toward Israeli territory, Saudi Arabia and American installations.
We ask the global FAI family to intercede on behalf of the people of Iran, Israel, and the greater Middle East today. We pray that the designs of wicked regimes to use this assassination as a pretext for further violence would be thwarted and those powers restrained. We pray for the people of Iran, who continue to suffer under the heavy boot of the Islamic dictatorship, and especially the underground churches of Iran, who continue to make disciples as their nation continues to endure one crisis after another. We pray for a divine hedge of protection around the State of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and US military and diplomatic installations in the region, as well as the civilians who live and work around them. Finally, we pray that this crisis, like every crisis in the region, would open wide, effectual doors for feet that carry Good News to those who have never heard it.
Maranatha.
