The widow of the Iranian nuclear scientist who was assassinated on Friday said today that ‘he wanted to get martyred and his wish came true’ as she appeared on state TV following his death.
The unnamed widow said the death of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi would spark a thousand others to take up his work, following the ambush in Tehran on Friday which the Iranian regime has blamed on Israel.
The scientist’s body lay in a flag-draped, open coffin at a mosque today in central Tehran where Iran’s chief justice Ebrahim Raisi prayed over his body in a public spectacle of mourning for the nuclear scientist.
His death sent tensions in the region skyrocketing as Iran accused Israel of trying to provoke a war by killing Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi – who Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu once called out in a news conference saying: ‘Remember that name’.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today called Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi ‘the country’s prominent and distinguished nuclear and defensive scientist.’
Khamenei – who has the final say on all matters of state – said Iran’s first priority after the killing was the ‘definitive punishment of the perpetrators and those who ordered it.’ He did not elaborate.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also said Israel was to blame for the ambush in a televised speech on Saturday, and said Iran would retaliate for the killing of Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi at ‘the proper time’.