Iran’s president accuses Israel of killing top nuclear scientist

President Hassan Rouhani Saturday accused Israel of killing Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the mastermind of Iran’s nuclear arms and missile programs, in a bomb-cum-shooting attack near Tehran on Friday. Military and clerical officials in Tehran vowed to exact revenge from the “Zionist regime.” He added, “Our people are too wise to fall into the trap… Iran will certainly respond to his martyrdom.. at the proper time.” Supreme leader Khamenei’s military aide accused “President Trump’s ally, the Zionists,” of “seeking to intensify pressure on Iran to create a full-blown war,” and asserted, “Fakhrizadeh’s work will continue to be a nightmare for Iran’s enemies.” In a letter to the Security Council, Iran’s UN ambassador held “certain foreign quarters” responsible for the killing of several top Iranian scientists in “terrorist attacks” in the last decade.  Israel has made no comment, although The New York Times quotes an unnamed US official and two other intelligence officers as confirming Israel’s hand in the attack, without offering details.