Tehran: Iran vowed it won’t “fall into the trap” of choking any future talks with the incoming Biden government following the assassination of a top nuclear scientist.
“Iran’s scientific and defence policies won’t change because of the assassination of one scientist or general,” government spokesman Ali Rabiei said in a statement on Sunday posted on the government’s official website. The Islamic Republic “shouldn’t fall into the trap of linking the assassination to past nuclear negotiations,” he said.
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a veteran physicist who played a major role in Iran’s nuclear research and defence activities, was killed in a bombing and shooting ambush outside Tehran on Friday. Iran has blamed Israel, which had accused Fakhrizadeh of masterminding a secret nuclear bomb project and hasn’t commented on the allegation.
Both Israel and US President Donald Trump oppose President-elect Joe Biden’s intention to rejoin the Obama-era nuclear accord if Tehran – which denies bomb-making ambitions – also returns to full compliance.