TEHRAN — The head of Iran's Civil Defense Organization has said the assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on November 28, 2020, was the result of a “smiling policy” toward the enemy, IRNA reported on Sunday.

“One year has passed since the martyrdom of one of the competent sons of the Revolution, who was targeted by the global arrogance to strike at the movement and scientific efforts of his country,” Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali wrote in a message on Sunday. 
 
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated in a terrorist operation in the Absard region of Damavand on November 28, 2020. Israel’s Mossad spy agency through a cooperation with the U.S. are considered the main culprits for the assassination. Fakhrizadeh was the only scientist whose name had been mentioned by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018. He said, “Remember the name, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.” Experts then inferred this act as a direct threat against Fakhrizadeh’s life. 

Jalali noted that Fakhrizadeh was little known before his martyrdom, and many aspects of his personality, scientific services, and actions may remain a secret for the betterment of Iran.

“He was one of the sincere figures of the Revolution who preferred to remain anonymous and instead of gaining fame and a position, he committedly took steps towards the scientific progress of Islamic Iran, especially in the field of defense. But in manifesting his greatness and influence, it is enough to say that one of the most complex assassinations of the century was devised and carried out to stop his thoughts,” Gen. Jalali stated.

“Fakhrizadeh is rightfully a martyr of civil defense”
 
His scientific movement in the direction of creating authority, civilization and innovation in the service of the people, Gen. Jalali noted, was like a “pain in the neck of arrogance” and his martyrdom was evidence for the “malice and brutality” of the enemies which again revealed their “evil goal”. 

According to the commander, the assassination is a symbol of the futility of the JCPOA (the 2015 nuclear deal) and smiling policy toward the enemy.

Elsewhere in his message, Jalali highlighted, “Twenty years of living in the shadow of assassination for the security and welfare of the people is undoubtedly a beacon for the talented youth he trained in the Research and Innovation Organization of the Ministry of Defense to provide great support for improving the country's defense against new radiological, biological and chemical threats. Indeed, he is a full-fledged nuclear and defense scientist.”

In his message, Jalali stressed that Fakhrizadeh is rightfully a martyr of civil defense and the personnel of the Civil Defense Organization will never forget his efforts in the field of biological defense, especially in the field of advanced equipment such as mobile laboratory with level 3 biosafety, production of diagnostic kits and the coronavirus vaccine, as well as in the field of modern defense as the initiator of the civil defense industry in the field of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and high yield Explosives (CBRNE).  

In his message, Jalali added, “On the anniversary of the martyrdom of this revolutionary scientist, while commemorating his memory and that of all the martyrs of the Islamic Revolution, we declare that undoubtedly the scientists, professors and scholars of the country, despite the enmity of the foes, will continue the path of Fakhrizadeh and the blood of these martyrs of the Islamic Revolution will be the cause of unity and solidarity of the nation in standing against the enemies, especially the criminal America and the usurping Zionist regime, and the perpetrators of this sinister assassination will pay a heavy price.”