Rouhani to Erdogan: ‘We know who killed Fakhrizadeh and we will avenge him’
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday that Tehran reserves the right to respond “in a timely manner” to the assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
In a statement, the Iranian presidency stated that Rouhani held Israel responsible for the assassination of the prominent nuclear scientist, in a “heinous crime and an inhuman action.”
He said, “There is no doubt that the assassination of the Iranian scientist is evidence of the impotence of the true enemies of the Iranian people, and revenge against this great martyr for the perpetrators of this assassination in a timely manner is the right of the Iranian government.”
Rouhani thanked Erdogan for Turkey’s solidarity with the Iranian people and its condemnation of the assassination of Fakhrizadeh, adding that it is quite clear to Tehran who was responsible for the attack and how the assassination took place.
Rouhani said that Fakhrizadeh, who was considered a key figure in Tehran’s nuclear program, spent the last months of his life fighting the coronavirus, completing research, manufacturing and producing medical devices and tests to diagnose the epidemic.
Rouhani also touched on the nuclear agreement concluded between Iran and the P5 + 1 group in 2015 and paid special attention to the statements of the presumed winner in the US presidential election, Joe Biden, regarding his willingness to return to this deal from which President Donald Trump’s administration withdrew.
Rouhani said that Iran has repeatedly confirmed that it will abide by the nuclear agreement if the other parties also abide by their responsibilities, expressing his hope that “the new US administration will draw lessons from the mistakes of the current administration.”
