The world should thank us for killing prominent Iran scientist, gloats Israel

The world should thank Israel for killing prominent Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, gloated a senior official of the Zionist state in an interview with the New York Times.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the senior official who was involved in tracking down the 59-year-old before he was gunned down on route to visit his family, pledged that Israel would continue to act against the Islamic Republic as it saw fit.

Israel has so far declined to comment on the assassination which has been met with outrage and condemnation. Remarks by the anonymous Israeli official to the Times are the closest the occupation state has come to admitting to the killing.

Gloating over what many have denounced as an act of “state terrorism”, the Israeli official said that Iran’s aspirations for nuclear weapons, promoted by Fakhrizadeh, posed such a menace, that the world should thank Zionist state.

READ: Iran says ‘hard revenge awaits’ scientist’s killers

Not even Israel’s allies are buying that narrative and instead the killing has been met with scorn. “This was a criminal act & highly reckless,” former CIA Director John Brennan said in a tweet that implied President Donald Trump was somehow involved. “It risks lethal retaliation & a new round of regional conflict. Iran leaders would be wise to wait for the return of responsible American leadership on the global stage & to resist the urge to respond against perceived culprits.”

Brennan went on to imply that the killing of Fakhrizadeh was an act of terrorism. “I do not know whether a foreign government authorized or carried out the the murder of Fakhrizadeh,” tweeted Brennan. “Such an act of state-sponsored terrorism would be a flagrant violation of international law & encourage more governments to carry out lethal attacks against foreign officials.”

Aware that his comments opened him up to the accusation of hypocrisy, Brennan who under the administration of President Barack Obama escalated the US’ policy of assassination, explained that the killing of scientists “are far different than strikes against terrorist leaders & operatives of groups like al-Qaida & Islamic State, which are not sovereign states”. According to Brennan “as illegitimate combatants under international law, they can be targeted in order to stop deadly terrorist attacks.”