TEHRAN – The machine gun that targeted Martyr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was controlled online and artificial intelligence technology was used in it, the Deputy Chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has said.

“The satellite machine gun was controlled online and there were no terrorists at the scene,” Brigadier General Ali Fadavi said while addressing a commemoration ceremony for the assassinated scientist on Sunday.

“13 bullets were fired from the machine gun and it was zoomed in on Martyr Fakhrizadeh’s face with an advanced camera, and it was equipped with artificial intelligence technology,” Fadavi explained, according to Mehr.

Fakhrizadeh, a senior nuclear and defense scientist, was assassinated in a small city east of Tehran on November 27.

His assassination could further hamper diplomatic efforts to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which was abandoned by U.S. President Donald Trump in May 2018.

Iran has blamed Israel, which has carried out assassination operations against Iranian nuclear scientists over the past decade. Immediately after the assassination, Foreign Minister Zarif said in a tweet that the attack was carried out with “serious indications of Israeli role”.

Over the past years Israel has assassinated five other Iranian nuclear scientists. It killed Masoud Alimohammadi, Majid Shahriari, Darioush Rezaeinejad, and Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan. Israel also attempted to assassinate Fereydon Abbassi, former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and now the chairman of the Parliament Energy Committee, but it failed.

Fadavi said Fakhrizadeh was accompanied by 11 guards and his wife. While 4 or 5 bullets hit Fakhrizadeh, his wife was not shot at all.

The head of Martyr Fakhrizadeh’s guards was hit with four bullets because he had thrown himself on Fakhrizadeh, and other guards were not targeted by the machine gun, he added.

In remarks on November 30, Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi said numerous clues have been found with regard to the assassination.

“Following the assassination of Martyr Fakhrizadeh, my colleagues in the Intelligence Ministry have started following up on this incident in all aspects and have so far obtained many clues,” Alavi said on the sidelines of the scientist’s funeral procession.

“Due to its security aspects, it is not possible to inform the public until all its dimensions are clarified, but as soon as the dimensions of this issue are clarified, the dear nation of Iran will be informed,” he added.

Meanwhile, President Hassan Rouhani has said Iran is entitled to take revenge for the assassination of Fakhrizadeh.

“Iran’s government is entitled to take retaliation from the elements behind the assassination of the martyr,” Rouhani said on Thursday.

He said the terrorist attack showed that Iran’s enemies are desperate in the face of Iranian scientists’ scientific progress.

“For us, it is completely clear who has committed this act of terror and what method was adopted to perpetrate this atrocity,” the president added.

MH/PA