Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a senior Iranian expert specialized in nuclear technology was assassinated in a terrorist attack on last Friday. Dr. Fakhrizadeh was publicly declared a target by Netanyahu in 2018 and his murder was a deliberate and cowardly provocation by the Zionists, through their agents within Iran. They want to incite retaliation in the hope that Washington would intervene (especially in the period between Trump and Biden) to carry out a massive attack on Iran. Of course Mossad had murdered several Iranian scientists before, but at this time Netanyahu would like to sabotage the possibility of diplomatic relations resuming between Washington and Tehran.
The crime has been effectively admitted, by those close to Tel Aviv. Whatever Mossad may have told the UN, this is a crime with ‘similar fact’ murders in preceding years. Like the hundreds of missile attacks on Syria, with the pretext of “Iran”, the Israeli colony in Palestine commits acts of terrorism with virtual impunity, which is very unhealthy. They feel encouraged to continue with their crimes. Netanyahu imagines he can hide behind the coat-tails of NATO powers forever, thus escaping punishment and deterrence. He may also imagine that by not admitting his crimes he may stay the hand of retribution. But if we track his movements to Saudi Arabia the previous week, we might find the immediate antecedents of this latest act of terror.
Iran calls on international community—and especially EU—to end their shameful double standards and condemn this act of state terror. It is right and proper that the international community is called on to condemn this terrorism. However we have seen muted responses before, or just calls for ‘restraint’ only after the latest Israeli atrocity has been carried out. Where is the accountability? Can the Statute of Rome be invoked? We know the UN General Assembly has a conscience, yet the UN Security Council is blocked by three NATO powers. The problem is that Zionist illegality has been rampant for many decades, and impunity helps breed more crimes.
Iran will have to decide when and how it responds, but it will have to respond. One matter is what to do with the defunct nuclear deal, the other is effective deterrence imposed on the Zionists. There is the trap of provocation, but impunity is a terrible cancer. The detail of any response is all important, and only those accountable for their actions can make this decision.