WASHINGTON, Nov 29, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The assassination of a top
Iranian nuclear scientist, which Tehran has blamed on Israel, risks
not only sharpening tensions across the region but also severely
complicating plans by US President-elect Joe Biden to resume dialogue
with the Islamic republic, analysts said Saturday.
Iran has accused arch-foe Israel of seeking to sow “chaos” by
killing 59-year-old Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and has strongly implied that
the Jewish state was acting with US blessing.
Washington has not officially commented on the operation, in which
gunmen targeted Fakhrizadeh’s car on a road outside Tehran, according
to Iran’s defense ministry.
But President Donald Trump has retweeted others’ comments on the
incident, including at least one that said the scientist had been
“wanted for many years by Mossad,” the Israeli intelligence agency.
Trump in 2018 withdrew the US from the multination nuclear agreement
with Iran, instead launching a “maximum pressure” campaign which he
appears determined to pursue until he leaves office in January.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who recently visited Israel, on
Friday announced new economic sanctions against some Chinese and
Russian firms accused of having supported Iran’s missile program.
“This administration… is here until January 20” and will “continue
to pursue its policies,” a senior US official traveling with Pompeo
said during a stop Sunday in Abu Dhabi.
“I would hope that this leverage that the administration works so
hard to get will be used to good purpose to get the Iranians to, once
again, start behaving like a normal state.”
– ‘Criminal act’ –
But for some American analysts, the killing of Fakhrizadeh was a
dangerous act that undercuts Biden’s stated intention of offering Iran
“a credible path back to diplomacy” as a step toward the United States
rejoining the nuclear accord.
Former CIA head John Brennan tweeted Friday that the scientist’s
killing was a “criminal act & highly reckless,” saying it “risks
lethal retaliation & a new round of regional conflict.”
Brennan, who led the US intelligence agency from 2013-2017, when
Barack Obama was president and Biden was vice president, exhorted Iran
to “wait for the return of responsible American leadership on the
global stage & to resist the urge to respond against perceived
culprits.”
As the US was moving a carrier group led by the USS Nimitz back to
the Gulf — while insisting this had nothing to do with the
assassination — Germany warned on Saturday against any new
“escalation.”
“We call on all parties to avoid taking any action which could lead
to a new escalation of the situation” which “we absolutely do not need
at this moment,” a German foreign ministry spokesman told AFP.
“Weeks before a new government takes office in the United States,
existing dialogue with Iran must be maintained in order to resolve
through negotiation the conflict over Iran’s nuclear program.”
– ‘Outrageous action’ –
That view was shared by Ben Friedman, a defense specialist at George
Washington University.
The killing, he said, was “an act of sabotage against US diplomacy
and interests” and would “likely help Iranian hardliners who want
nuclear weapons.”
For Ben Rhodes, a former advisor to Obama, “This is an outrageous
action aimed at undermining diplomacy between an incoming US
administration and Iran.”
He added: “It’s time for this ceaseless escalation to stop.”
Some analysts, however, saw the killing in Iran as providing
leverage to the incoming US administration that could be useful in
possible negotiations with Tehran.
“Still almost two months before Joe Biden takes office,” noted Mark
Dubowitz, director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).
“Plenty of time for U.S. and Israel to inflict severe damage on the
regime in Iran – and build leverage for the Biden administration.”