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There have been conflicting accounts from Iranian news companies about how the assault unfolded.
The Fars News report mentioned Fakhrizadeh was touring with his spouse in a bulletproof automotive, alongside three safety personnel automobiles, when he heard what seemed like bullets hitting a automobile, and he exited the automotive to find out what had occurred.
When he acquired out, a remote-controlled machine gun opened fireplace from a Nissan stopped about 150 meters (164 yards) from Fakhrizadeh’s automotive, the agency mentioned.
Fakhrizadeh was hit at the least thrice, in keeping with Fars News. His bodyguard was additionally shot. Following the gunfire, the Nissan exploded, the news agency reported, including the assault lasted three minutes.
CNN can not independently verify Fars News’ model of occasions.
The semi-official Iranian Students News Agency additionally reported Fakhrizadeh’s automotive was hit by gunfire, adopted by an explosion and extra gunfire. ISNA cited Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Amir Hatami as its supply.
“Based on reports received from members of his security detail, Mr. Fakhrizadeh’s vehicle was initially targeted by gunfire, after which a Nissan vehicle laden with explosives was set off in close proximity to them as gunfire, targeting their vehicle, was continuing,” Hatami was quoted as saying.
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, a state tv outlet, mentioned the explosion occurred first, adopted by gunfire from attackers.
“Undoubtedly, the Islamic Republic of Iran will give a calculated and decisive answer to the criminals who took Martyr Fakhrizadeh,” Kharrazi was quoted as saying.
Fakhrizadeh was the pinnacle of the analysis heart of latest expertise within the elite Revolutionary Guards and was a number one determine in Iran’s nuclear program.
Iranian leaders blame Israel
Khameini wrote Saturday on a Twitter account that usually carries his official statements, “Mr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed by the oppressive enemies. This rare scientific mind lost his life for his everlasting great scientific work. He lost his life for God and the supreme leader.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif referred to as on the worldwide group “to end their shameful double standards” and “condemn this act of state terror.” He added that the assault confirmed “serious indications of Israeli role.”
Maj. Gen. Hossein Dehghan, Khamenei’s army adviser, tweeted Saturday that “Zionists” are looking for to create “all-out war” and vowed to “descend like lightning” on Fakhrizadeh’s killers.
President Hassan Rouhani, additionally among the many many Iranian leaders blaming Israel, promised retaliation as properly, saying throughout a cupboard assembly Saturday, “The think tanks and the enemies of Iran must know that the Iranian nation and the officials in charge in the country are brave and determined to respond to the murder in time.”
The killing, he mentioned, was carried out at “the filthy hands of oppressors, in concert with the illegitimate Zionist regime.”
Iran has supplied no proof of Israeli involvement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s workplace declined to remark to CNN on Friday.
Israeli Settlement Affairs Minister Tzachi Hanegbi informed Israel’s Channel 12 he did not know who killed Fakhrizadeh, however referred to as it “very embarrassing for Iran.”
“Remember that name, Fakhrizadeh,” the prime minister informed reporters on the time.
Protests erupt in Tehran
The killing threatens to compound tensions in Tehran-Washington relations, which have deteriorated underneath US President Donald Trump. In 2018, Trump pulled out of a multilateral nuclear deal with Iran, and Iran started withdrawing its commitments from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action final yr. Trump has invoked crippling financial sanctions on the nation.
The White House is carefully monitoring Fakhrizadeh’s killing, it mentioned. On Friday, Trump retweeted Israeli journalist Yossi Melman, who wrote that Fakhrizadeh “was head of Iran’s secret military program and wanted for many years by Mossad,” Israel’s overseas intelligence agency.
Students and younger Iranians have converged on a number of authorities buildings in Tehran, and at one demonstration exterior the Foreign Ministry on Saturday, protesters burned US and Israeli flags and posters depicting Trump and President-elect Joe Biden.
The European Union condemned the killing and referred to as for “maximum restraint,” whereas the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office mentioned it was “urgently trying to establish the facts.”
The funeral and burial of Fakhrizadeh will probably be held Monday, Fars News reported. Fakhrizadeh’s stays have been taken to the shrine of Imam Reza, one of the vital vital non secular hubs for Shias, in Mashhad on Saturday. Following a Sunday service in Mashhad, his physique was anticipated to be taken to Tehran to the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini, the Islamic republic’s founder.
CNN’s Ramin Mostaghim, Angela Dewan and Samantha Beech contributed to this report.
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