Afghan, Kuwaiti FMs criticize assassination of top Iranian scientist

MNA

Foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Kuwait deplored the assassination of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in separate phone calls with the country’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday.

Mohammed Haneef Atmar of Afghanistan and his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah also extended their deepest condolences to the Iranian government and people over the terrorist attack against the prominent Iranian scientist, IRNA reported.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, 59, succumbed to his wounds on Friday after assailants targeted his car and engaged in a gunfight with his bodyguards outside the capital Tehran.

The Afghan foreign minister further stressed that terrorism is deplored in any form.

On Sunday, Foreign ministers of Oman, Qatar, Syria, Sweden, and Switzerland and the chief of Hamas Political Bureau also expressed their condolences over Fakhrizadeh assassination in separate phone talks with Zarif.

Fakhrizadeh was laid to rest in a funeral befitting a distinguished martyr Monday. The scientist's body was laid to rest at Emamzadeh Saleh, a popular Shia shrine in northern Tehran where two other slain nuclear scientists were buried in 2010 and 2011.

The funeral was not open to the public in order to maintain health protocols over the novel coronavirus pandemic, Iran's Defense Ministry said.

Fakhrizadeh assassination has led to demands for a strong response from the Iranian leadership. President Hassan Rouhani has emphasized that the country will seek its revenge for the assassination in "due time" and not be rushed into a "trap."

Iran's Intelligence Ministry said it had obtained "new leads" on the identity of the perpetrators and that the information "will be publicized very soon."

Intelligence Minister Alavi said Monday “many clues” have been obtained and intelligence forces are still investigating the terror acts “from all dimensions.”

Fakhrizadeh served as the head of the ministry’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND).

Iranian government officials and military commanders hinted that the Israeli regime could have been behind the terror attack, vowing harsh revenge against all the criminals involved.

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Resource: IRNA