Iran's President Issues Decree To Prevent Attacks Similar To Nuclear Scientist's Killing

TEHRAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th November, 2020) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has issued a decree on necessary security measures aimed to prevent further attacks against Iranian scientists, following the recent assassination of Iranian nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the president's press service said on Sunday.

"The Iranian president, expressing his condolences regarding the cowardly killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh ... has issued a decree on the measures necessary to prevent and eliminate the actions of such kind that undermine security," the statement, published on the president's site, read, giving no provisions of the decree.

On Friday, Fakhrizadeh, the head of the Iranian Defense Ministry's innovation center, was killed in an attack carried out near the northern Iranian town of Absard. According to media reports, the scientist was killed by a remote-controlled automatic weapon after he got out of his armored car.

Fakhrizadeh's death came two days before the 10th death anniversary of another Iranian nuclear physicist, Majid Shahriari.

According to Ali Akbar Salehi, the Iranian vice president and head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Fakhrizadeh was mostly engaged in the development of Iran's defense system aimed to protect the country from a nuclear attack.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused Israel of being involved in the death of the nuclear scientist, and called on the international community to condemn the act. On Saturday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the crime would not go unanswered.

The Office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Sputnik that it would not comment on the Iranian statements regarding the Israeli engagement in Fakhrizadeh's assassination.