Top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated Friday. Western intelligence agencies were aware of Fakhrizadeh's involvement in Iran's military nuclear program. In 2018, Prime Minister Netanyahu named Fakhrizadeh as the director of Iran's nuclear weapons project and insisted he was continuing to lead such efforts, despite Iran's denials.
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Understandably, Israel did not respond to the reports coming from Tehran in the hours after the assassination. However, Netanyahu released a video that opened with the sentence, "I would like to share with you the list of things I've done this week. A part of the list, as I can't reveal everything."
In any case, the assassination of the nuclear scientist who led Iran's nuclear program is a dramatic event, whether Israel's Mossad intelligence agency was involved or not.
Not only was Fakhrizadeh a scientist and an expert in nuclear physics, but he was also a close friend of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Despite being a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, he was not part of the organization's hierarchy, instead, he reported directly to Khamenei.
It seems that Fakhrizadeh was also responsible for the Iranian plan to conceal the true nature of its nuclear program because, despite the International Atomic Energy Agency's demands to meet, he never met with its inspectors. Fakhrizadeh had round-the-clock security, and according to reports from Iran, some of the assassins were injured in the attack.
Fakhrizadeh's elimination demonstrates incredible intelligence, operational, and precise execution capabilities. If Israel is indeed behind the hit, it seems the timing stemmed from two significant factors: the end of Donald Trump's presidency and concerns about the increased amount of enriched uranium that Iran is producing.
Fakhrizadeh will naturally be replaced but it is doubtful whether the person who replaces him will have such a special and close relationship to Khamenei as Fakhrizadeh did. Esmail Ghaani stepped in after the assassination of Quds Force chief Gen. Qasem Soleimani, but by all accounts, he is not as successful as his predecessor.
Fakhrizadeh's assassination is a punch in Iran's gut. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif hinted at Israeli involvement in the assassination. At the same time, it will probably take some time until Iran understands what had happened, and Tehran will think carefully before pointing the finger of blame to one or another, and carefully examine whether it has any operational capability to avenge Fakhrizadeh's death.
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