Death of Iran nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh renews fear of revenge attack on US as Ayatollah vows ‘punishment’
THE death of Iran's top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh has renewed fears of a revenge attack on the USA.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran’s first priority was "definitive punishment" of Fakhrizadeh's killers as protesters burned images of and in Tehran on Saturday.
In Tehran, protesters burned images of Trump and Biden today, after the president-elect indicated that his administration will consider reentering Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
Fakhrizadeh headed Iran’s AMAD Project, which Israel and the West claimed was a military operation looking at the feasibility of building a nuclear weapon.
No one has claimed responsibility for the assassination yet.
But he was after being warned it could spark all-out war.
As Biden prepares to take the reins in January, Israeli officials were today warned of a "very sensitive period" with Trump unwilling, until this week, to concede defeat.
reports that the IDF have been instructed to prepare for a possible strike against Iran by the Israeli government, which did not make the order based on intelligence that Trump will issue the strike.
The officials say Israel's government has warned the IDF to prepare for possible retaliation against the country by Iran directly, or by proxies in Syria, Gaza and Lebanon.
Fakhrizadeh was often compared with Robert Oppenheimer, the American physicist who oversaw the effort to build the atomic bomb in the 1940s, and was dubbed the "nuclear ."
The meeting of the two significant powers, who previously had shunned all formal diplomatic relations, sent a strong message to Iran of the strength of their opposition.
“It’s Iran, Iran, Iran,” Israeli cabinet minister Tzachi Hanegbi told Israel’s Army Radio when asked about the visit. “It is very, very important to create the axis which isolates Iran.”
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israeili Prime Minister Netanyahu were cheered on by Trump, who championed a "maximum pressure" campaign against the country.
The US and Iran have seen relations plunge to new lows under the Trump administration following a string of clashes.
Earlier this week, the President sent B-52 nuclear capable bombers to the Middle East in an apparent warning to Iran.
The aircraft flew to the Middle East nonstop from their base in North Dakota and are expected to be stationed at a US base in Qatar.
It is very, very important to create the axis which isolates Iran.
Israeli cabinet minister Tzachi Hanegbi
F-15 and F-15 fighter jets along with KC-10 and KC-135 aerial tankers also accompanied the bombers.
Lieutenant General Greg Guillot, commander of the US military’s 9th Air Force, said: "The ability to quickly move forces into, out of and around the theater to seize, retain and exploit the initiative is key to deterring potential aggression."
He added: "These missions help bomber aircrews gain familiarity with the region’s airspace and command and control functions.
"[It allows] them to integrate with the theater’s US and partner air assets, increasing the combined force’s overall readiness."
The US tends to station of the aircraft amid periods of heightened tension in the region, and they have previously been seen to be directly pointed at Iran.
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Meanwhile, the family of Fakhrizadeh gathered at a mosque in central Tehran for his funeral service on Saturday, a website associated with Iranian state TV reported.
The scientist’s body lay in a flag-draped, open coffin, his eyes closed, as Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s chief justice and a leading Shiite cleric, offered prayers over his body.