Iran’s hard-line Kayhan daily newspaper has published an op-ed urging the Tehran government to retaliate against Israel to avenge the death of the country’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
The scientist was assassinated Friday in an attack near Tehran involving multiple weapons, personnel and vehicles. Fakhrizadeh, 63, founded the Islamic Republic’s military nuclear program. He was a professor of physics at Imam Hussein University in Tehran and a brigadier general in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, in addition to his status as a senior scientist in the government.
His body guard was also killed in the attack.
The Iranian government blames Israel and the United States, and the op-ed written by Iranian analyst Sadollah Zarei claimed previous Iranian responses to suspected Israeli air strikes in Syria have not been strong enough.
Now, says Zarei, Iran should attack Haifa. Destroy many facilities with an attack that “also causes heavy human casualties.” You would think from this recommendation that Iran’s Lebanese terrorist proxy, Hezbollah, has not been trying very hard to kill Israelis on behalf of its patron with its rocket fire, armed drone attacks, automatic gunfire and cross border anti-tank missile fire in past attacks.
But this time, a serious attack will “definitely lead to deterrence because the United States and the Israeli regime and its agents are by no means ready to take part in a war and a military confrontation,” Zarei opined.
Will the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) listen? Kayhan’s editor-in-chef, Hossein Shariatmadari has been described in the past as an adviser to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to The Associated Press.