Following assassinations of important civilians, Iran pointed the finger at neighbours and the west, while the two continue to deny the high-profile killings. However, five days after the sensational incident, no official account of the attack has emerged, except four conflicting narratives
@Kunal_Chonkar
New Delhi: With clenched fists and promises of retaliation, Iran laid to rest its slain nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on Monday. While ruling out any negotiations with the west after the incident, the country vowed to continue its nuclear program ‘with more speed and more power,’ as Fakhrizadeh’s coffin, wrapped in an Iranian flag, was then taken to a cemetery near Imamzadeh Saleh mosque in the north of the city for burial.
Dubbed by the international media outlets as the father of Iran’s nuclear program, Fakhrizadeh was assassinated in broad daylight at the Damavand Country, Tehran Province, on November 27. The name of the 63-year-old was marked as the seventh victim in a series of nuclear scientists murdered in a country whose nuclear ambitions have been a major source of concern for the West and its allies in the Middle East. Following each assassination, Iran pointed the finger at neighbours and the west, while the two continue to deny the high-profile assassinations of important civilians.
However, five days after the sensational incident no official account of the attack has emerged, except four conflicting narratives from Iranian and international media.
Ambush by Tactical Strike Team
Few hours after the incident, Iran’s leading independent news agency – Fars News published a report reading that the three-car convoy of the nuclear scientist was sprayed by a barrage of bullets. The report claimed that the bulletproof cars of the convoy, which had arrived from northern Mazandaran Province, were stopped before they could reach Absard city. It claimed that a nearby Nissan pickup truck exploded and gunmen immediately opened fire on the convoy. A couple of minutes after launching the assault, the gunmen fled the scene.
One of the highlights in the Fars report was about one of the bodyguards moving over to shield Fakhrizadeh but to no avail. Even, Iranian local media produced conflicting reports about the fate of the bodyguard, who died while trying to protect the scientist.
Meanwhile, an eyewitness recounted a similar account of the incident. The man, wearing a face-covering, told the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) agency that while he was driving, he witnessed an explosion on the motorway after which he said the shooting began on both sides of the road. He narrated of having seen a masked, and a heavily armed gunman, who had positioned himself on the ground shooting straight at him, prompting him to rapidly reverse. According to this eyewitness, there were around five to six gunmen, all wearing tactical gears, kevlar, and masks.
Booby Trap – Sniper Attack
Fereydoun Abbasi Davani, Iran’s Head of the Parliamentary Committee of Energy, in his appearance on a local television show, provided his account of the incident. Abbasi, who himself is a nuclear scientist and also the former head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, had escaped an assassination attempt a few years ago. His narrative was the account of the statements from Fakhrizadeh’s bodyguards.
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As per the narrative, ‘the Nissan pickup truck laden with small charges was parked on the opposite side of the road was in fact a booby-trap. The attackers might have wanted Fakhrizadeh’s car to stop near the pickup truck to be hit by the explosion.’ Abbasi claimed that according to some officials it was a suicide attack. However, ‘it was not that, because no-one was in the Nissan’ Abbasi pointed.
In Abbasi’s account, Fakhrizadeh seemed to have stepped out of the car, the reason of which was not immediately clear. He suspected Fakhrizadeh might have been wanted to check on his family, which is when he was shot in the shoulder. One of his bodyguards from the car behind rushed to cover him but he too was shot and fell down. Seconds after this was when the nuclear scientist received the final death blow.
Attack by Technical
The third theory of the assassination emerged from a pro-establishment documentary maker, who described the attack as ‘exactly like an American action movie,’ on his social media account. According to the post by Javad Mogouyi wrote on his Telegram account on November 29 – the Nissan pickup truck was a ‘technical vehicle’ mounted with an automated machine gun. It was parked on the side of the road while a Hyundai Santa Fe car with four passengers, four motorbike riders, and two snipers was waiting on the side of the boulevard.
Mogouyi in his post claimed that a team of 12 men was involved in the assault, which a number some observers have also cited and corroborated. However, the basis of his claim is unclear. He also claimed that Fakhrizadeh’s car was not bulletproof.
The documentary maker went on to cite that the first escort car followed by Fakhrizadeh’s had driven through a U-turn when the machine gun began shooting. The scientist received three shots in his hands and legs. He stepped out of the car when one of his guards went to cover him and was immediately shot. The Nissan blew up at this moment and the gunmen in waiting started to shoot. According to Mogouyi, the area had a power cut half an hour before the assault due to which is there is no CCTV footage of the incident.
Remote-Controlled Machine Gun Triggered by SATOPS
Another report, published by the Fars news agency on November 29, said the attack was carried out with a ‘remote-controlled automatic machine gun.’ The report read that – ‘during this operation, which lasted about three minutes, no human agents were present at the scene of the assassination, and the shootings were carried out only with automatic weapons, and no one else was wounded in the incident, except for the bodyguard of the martyr.’ In this narrative of the incident too, Fakhrizadeh stepped out of the car after bullets from the Nissan’s automated machine gun penetrated his car.
An exclusive report by the website of Iran’s Al Alam Network also said that ‘the weapons used in the assassination were made in Israel, controlled by satellite operations (SATOPS).’
In the absence of an official statement by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence or other security organizations, the latest account of the incident is being widely used by Iranian media. While attending the burial ceremony of the slain scientist, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani recounted the story from the Fars news agency. The statement given by Shamkhani to the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network said ‘Unfortunately, it was a very complex mission using electronic equipment. There was no one present at the scene.’
