Iran says nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh killed by remote-controlled machine gun

Iranian officials, who blame Israel for the attack, say the ‘complex operation’ used a new specialised method

Fakhrizadeh’s funeral was held on Monday in the presence of senior military commanders and his family

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Iranian soldiers carry the coffin of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh during his funeral procession at the country’s Ministry of Defence on Monday. Photo: DPA

Published: 9:00pm, 30 Nov 2020Updated: 2:47pm, 1 Dec 2020

A top Iranian official on Monday said nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed in a new type of “complex operation”, blaming arch-foe Israel and an exiled opposition group.

The “operation was very complex, using electronic equipment and no one was present at the scene”, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Rear-Admiral Ali Shamkhani said.

The People’s Mujahedeen of Iran (MEK) were “certainly” involved, along with “the Zionist regime and the Mossad”, Shamkhani said, referring to the Israeli government and its external security agency.

“The enemy used a completely new, professional and specialised method and reached its goal,” he added, without elaborating on the weaponry involved.

Shamkhani’s comments came in video interviews broadcast by state television and the Fars news agency, as Fakhrizadeh’s funeral was held on Monday in the presence of senior military commanders and his family.