Fakhrizadeh

Iran claimed a high-tech, satellite-controlled camera had tracked Fakhrizadeh’s movements.

But an Israeli operation in early 2018 that stole a warehouse full of Iranian documents about “Project Amad,” what the Iranians called the nuclear weapons effort 20 years ago, included documents about Mr. Fakhrizadeh and his involvement.

Fakhrizadeh was also an officer in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, designated by the US as a terrorist organization.

In fact, Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency eliminated Fakhrizadeh, a defense official, despite the fact that its public depiction of him as the key architect of an Iranian nuclear weapons program was a deception.

In the letter, she expressed the New Zealand government's deep concern over the assassination of Martyr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a prominent Iranian scientist, and condemned any extrajudicial crimes and violence, especially against civilians.

Iranian officials say Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was ambushed in his car by what they call armed terrorists, spraying the windshield with bullets.

Secretary of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) said that enemies had sought to assassinate scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh for the past 20 years.

Shamkhani’s remarks drastically change the story of Fakhrizadeh’s killing, which took place Friday.

The Fakhrizadeh assassination will unfortunately push a long-shot Israel–Lebanon normalization deal further from the realm of possibility, as Lebanon will be less likely than the Gulf states to resist bullying from Iran.

The killing of Fakhrizadeh makes that more complicated, though not impossible, say experts.

The scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh died on Nov. 27 from his wounds in a hospital, according to Iran’s defense ministry, which had in a statement said assailants targeted his car and engaged in a gunfight with his bodyguards outside the capital.

The sons said Fakhrizadeh’s wife, apparently their mother, was sitting next to him when he was shot, but was not hit by bullets herself.