Iranian media says Israeli arms were used to assassinate Mohsen Fakhrizadeh

Dubai (Reuters) – Iran’s English-language Press TV reported on Monday that the weapon used in the killing of prominent Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh last week was made in Israel, the Islamic Republic’s longtime enemy.

“The weapons collected from the site of the terrorist act (where Fakhrizadeh was assassinated) bear the logo and specifications of the Israeli military industry,” an unnamed source told Press TV.

In Jerusalem, there was no immediate reply from Israeli officials contacted for comment on the report.

Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said on Sunday that Fakhrizadeh was killed by a machine gun operated by remote control, while the Arabic language Al Alam TV reported that the weapons used in Fakhrizadeh’s killing were “controlled by satellite.”

Witnesses on Friday told state TV that there were gunmen on the ground.

Speaking before the Press TV report, Israeli intelligence minister Eli Cohen told radio station 103 FM on Monday that he did not know who was responsible.

Fakhrizadeh, who had little public profile in Iran but had been named by Israel as a prime player in what it says is Iran’s nuclear weapons quest, was killed on Friday when he was ambushed on a highway near Tehran and his car sprayed with bullets.

Iran began Fakhrizadeh’s burial in a cemetery in northern Tehran on Monday, state TV reported, as the defense minister promised that the Islamic Republic would retaliate for his killing.

Iran’s clerical and military rulers have blamed Israel, for Fakhrizadeh’s killing, raising the threat of a new confrontation with the West and Israel in the remaining weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency.

When asked about potential Iranian reprisals, Cohen told radio station 103: “We have regional intelligence supremacy, and on this matter we are prepared, we are increasing vigilance, in the places where that is required.”

Iran’s hardline Kayhan daily, whose editor-in-chief is appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in an opinion piece on Sunday called for an attack on the Israeli port city of Haifa, if an Israeli role in Fakhrizadeh’s killing is proven.

Iran’s rulers are aware of daunting military and political difficulties in attacking Israel. Such an attack would also complicate any effort by US President-elect Joe Biden to revive detente with Tehran after he takes office on January 20.

Tensions have increased between Tehran and Washington since 2018, when Trump exited Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.

In retaliation, Tehran gradually breached the deal’s curbs on its nuclear program. Biden has said he will return the United States to the deal if Iran resumes compliance.

Tehran has always denied seeking nuclear weapons.