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Right after Mohsen Fakhrizadeh’s burial, Press TV the government-owned English language reported that a weapon recovered from the scene of the attack had the “Israeli military industrial logo and specifications”. However, the media did not provide any pictorial evidence or anything to corroborate the claim. (Read: After a nuclear scientist, now the Iranian IRGC commander has been killed by a drone)
In addition, a report on a news site Al Alam in Arabic, which is operated by a owned media company Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), said there was evidence of Israeli involvement in the killing. The report, which is linked to an anonymous source, also provides evidence of the claim.
Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, separately told state television that Iran’s enemies had launched a number of unsuccessful operations against Fakhrizadeh in the past.
“This time, the enemy is implementing a completely new, professional and sophisticated method,” he was quoted as saying Times of Israel, Tuesday (12/1/2020).
Syamkhani blames the Iranian opposition group which is in exile; Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), who according to him had a role in the killings. The MEK did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Read: Killed Nuclear Scientist, Iran Urged to Attack Israel’s Haifa)
The very public assassination of Fakhrizadeh sparked widespread criticism from Iran, which explicitly accuses Israel of responsibility for the attack and threatens to retaliate for it.
The reports blaming Israeli weapons came a day after the news agency Fars reported that Friday’s attack was carried out remotely using a remotely controlled machine gun mounted on a car without any human agents on the scene. The report differed significantly from the previously reported description of the attack, in which Fakhrizadeh was attacked by firing squad.
According to Fars, the attack took place over three minutes as Fakhrizadeh, a brigadier general in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and a key figure in the country’s military research and development program that Israel and the United States have long regarded as program head. nuclear weapons — traveling with his wife to the resort town of Absard, east of Tehran. (Also read: Former CIA Boss: Killing Iranian Nuclear Scientist Criminals, Could Trigger Regional Conflict)
Still according to the report, the operation began when the lead car in Fakhrizadeh’s security group traveled ahead to check the destination. At that time, a number of bullets were fired at Fakhrizadeh’s armored car, prompting him to get out of the vehicle because he seemed unaware that he was being attacked, and thought that the noise was caused by an accident or a problem with the car.
The media did not determine whether the shot was fired from a remotely controlled machine gun or from a different source.
As soon as Fakhrizadeh exited the vehicle, the remotely controlled machine gun fired from about 150 meters (500 feet) away, hitting him three times, twice on the side and once in the back, severing his spinal cord. Fakhrizadeh’s bodyguard was also hit by gunfire. The attacking car, a Nissan, then exploded.
Fakhrizadeh was taken to the nearest hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Photos and videos shared online online showed a sedan with bullet holes in the windshield and rear windows, blood pooling on the asphalt and debris strewn along a stretch of road.
Initial reports from Iran earlier indicated that the explosion occurred first, forcing Fakhrizadeh’s car to a stop, where armed agents opened fire on him and his security guards, killing them, before fleeing the scene.
According to reports FarsIranian authorities tracked down the owner of Nissan, who left the country on October 29. The name of the owner is not included in the report.
Some defense analysts cast doubt on Fars’s report of the remote-controlled firing, noting that the photos of the scene showed what appeared to be gunfire aimed at Fakhrizadeh’s car, which more closely matched initial descriptions of armed and trained operators carrying out the raid.
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