The assassination of Iran's top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh will neither deter the Islamic republic nor will it delay its nuclear program, Iranian leaders vowed over the weekend.
Fakhrizadeh headed Iran's so-called AMAD program – the country's military nuclear program – that Israel and the West argue is looking at the feasibility of building a nuclear weapon. Defense and nuclear experts said over the weekend that his death deals Iran's nefarious plan a major operational, strategic, and psychological blow.
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Iran has blamed Israel for the assassination, threatening "significant retaliation.
"Once again, the wicked hands of the global arrogance, with the usurper Zionist regime as the mercenary, were stained with the blood of a son of this nation," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a statement on Saturday.
Iran generally uses the term "global arrogance" to refer to the United States.
"We will respond to the assassination of Martyr Fakhrizadeh in a proper time. The Iranian nation is smarter than falling into the trap of the Zionists. They are thinking to create chaos."
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Fakhrizadeh "the country's prominent and distinguished nuclear and defensive scientist," adding that Iran's first priority after the killing was the "definitive punishment of the perpetrators and those who ordered it."
Both Rouhani and Khamenei stressed that Fakhrizadeh's death would not stop the nuclear program. Iran's civilian atomic program has continued its experiments and now enriches a growing uranium stockpile up to 4.5% purity in response to the collapse of Iran's nuclear deal after the US withdrawal from the accord in 2018.
That's still far below weapons-grade levels of 90%, though experts warn Iran now has enough low-enriched uranium for at least two atomic bombs if it chose to pursue them.
Fakhrizadeh was widely considered a brilliant nuclear scientist. Analysts have compared him to Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist who led America's Manhattan Project in World War II that created the world's first atomic bomb.
Meanwhile, deputy Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said that the response for the assassination was in Iran's hands.
Hezbollah is Iran's largest proxy on the Middle East. Based in Lebanon, where it has been able to insert itself into local politics and now all but controls Beirut's parliament, Tehran often calls on the Shiite terrorist group to do its bidding when it comes to mounting attacks against Israel, which shares a border with Lebanon.
"We condemn this heinous attack and see that the response to this crime is in the hands of those concerned in Iran Qassem said in an interview with Hezbollah's Al-Manar television.
He said Fakhrizadeh was killed by "those sponsored by America and Israel" and said the assassination was part of a war on Iran and the region.
Earlier this month, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Iran's allies in the region should be in a state of high readiness in case of any "American or Israeli folly" during the remainder of US President Donald Trump's term.
Asked whether Israel could attack Lebanon during that time, Qassem said he did not believe so but that if it did Hezbollah was "fully prepared" for a confrontation.
Iran has in the past targeted Israeli interests abroad over the killing of its nuclear scientists. Tehran could throw out inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, who have provided an unprecedented, real-time look at its nuclear program since the 2015 deal was inked.
Nasrollah Pezhmanfar, a hardline Iranian lawmaker, has already called on parliament to expel the "IAEA's spy inspections."
Saturday saw the United Nations called for restraint.
"Of course we condemn any assassination or extra-judicial killing," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "We urge restraint and the need to avoid any actions that could lead to an escalation of tensions in the region."
The European Union condemned Fakhrizadeh's assassination as a "criminal act" and echoed the UN's call for restraint.
"In these uncertain times, it is more important than ever for all parties to remain calm and exercise maximum restraint in order to avoid escalation which cannot be in anyone's interest," said Peter Sano, a spokesperson for the external affairs division of the Brussels-based European Union.
"This is a criminal act and runs counter to the principle of respect for human rights the EU stands for. The High Representative expresses his condolences to the family members of the individuals who were killed, while wishing a prompt recovery to any other individuals who may have been injured," he said.
Hardline Iranian media begun circulating memorial images showing Fakhrizadeh standing alongside a machine-gun-cradling likeness of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, whom the US killed in a drone strike on Jan. 3
Soleimani's death led to Iran retaliating with a ballistic missile barrage that injured dozens of American troops in Iraq. Tehran also has forces at its disposal all around Israel, including troops and proxies in neighboring Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Islamic Jihad – and to a lesser extent Hamas – in the Gaza Strip. The Iranian Guard's naval forces routinely shadow and have tense encounters with US Navy forces in the Persian Gulf as well.
Hours after the attack, the Pentagon announced it had brought the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier back into the Middle East, an unusual move as the carrier already spent months in the region. It cited the drawdown of US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq as the reason for the decision, saying "it was prudent to have additional defensive capabilities in the region to meet any contingency."
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