‘Enemy targeting Iran progress’

Tehran’s interim Friday prayers leader says by assassinating Iranian scientists the enemies of the Islamic establishment are targeting the independence of Iran.

Ayatollah Mohammad Emami-Kashani was referring to the assassination of Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan on January 11. An unknown motorcyclist attached a sticky bomb to Ahmadi Roshan’s car near Allameh Tabatabaei University in Tehran, killing him instantly.

Ahmadi Roshan was a Sharif University of Technology chemical engineering graduate and served as the deputy director of marketing at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility.

Ayatollah Emami-Kashani said such acts of terror committed against Iranian scientists will only lead to the awakening of nations.

“The martyrdom of this scientist shows that the enemies of Iran have a problem with the country’s independence and scientific [progress] and their policy is based on enmity with the scientific advancement of Iran,” said the Iranian cleric.

Ayatollah Emami-Kashani said the global arrogance considers Iran as the inspiration behind the recent Islamic movements in the region and has therefore decided to fight the country.

“The international community is either silent [on acts of terror committed against Iran] or supports the terrorist but we must help others understand that the US is against the awakening of nations,” he concluded.

The latest terrorist attack comes against an Iranian scientist comes as Iran has reached an agreement with the P5+1 — Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany – to hold negotiations in Turkey.

The US, zionist israel and their allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program and have used this allegation as a pretext to sway the UNSC to impose four rounds of sanctions on Iran.

Based on these accusations, they have also repeatedly threatened Tehran with the “option” of a military strike.

This is while in November 2011, some of the US presidential hopefuls called for conducting covert operations ranging from assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists to launching a military strike on Iran as well as sabotaging Tehran’s nuclear program.

The calls for assassinations are not idle threats as a number of Iranian scientists have been assassinated over the past few years. Professor Majid Shahriari and Professor Masoud Ali-Mohammadi are among the victims of these acts of terror.

On November 29, 2010, Shahriari and Fereydoun Abbasi were targeted by terrorist attacks; Shahriari was killed immediately and Dr. Abbasi, the current director of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, only sustained injuries.

Iran says as the UN Resolution 1747, adopted against Tehran in March 2007, cited Abbasi’s name as a “nuclear scientist,” the perpetrators were in a position to trace their victim.

According to reports, Ahmadi Roshan had recently met International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, a fact which indicates that the IAEA has leaked information about Iran’s nuclear facilities and scientists.