In a new twist on the Nov. 27 targeted remote-control killing of 62-year-old Iranian nuclear scientists Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran’s 60-year-old Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused Saudi Arabia of conspiracy. Iran had fingered Israel’s Mossad Security Service as the culprit most likely responsible for the killing since other Iranian nuclear scientists were targeted 10-year-ago. But what’s different this time around is that 71-year-old Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with 36-year-old Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salaman Nov. 23, four days before the remote-controlled truck-based machine gun mowed down Fakhrizadeh and his body guard. “Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif is desperate to blame the Kingdom for anything negative that happens in Iran. Will he blame us for the next earthquake or flood,” said Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.
Al-Jubeir’s denial sounds disingenuous hinting there could be something to Zarif’s claim of some kind of coordination with Israel. When Yemen’s Houthi rebels, currently at war with Saudi Arabia, shot Iranian-made missiles Sept. 14, 2019 at Saudis largest Aramco oil refinery at Abaiq-Khurais, it disabled the plant for months, responsible for some 20% of the world’s refined petroleum products from the Persian Gulf. At the time the Cruise missile attack, Iran denied any involvement, despite supplying Houthi’s with Iranian-made guided missiles with which to attack Saudi Arabia. Since the Saudi-Yemen war broke out in 2015, Iran has made no secret of their backing of Houthi rebels that had taken over Sanaa, Yemen’s ,largest city with a population of around 4 million. Since then, Saudi has watched Houthi rebels fire Iranian-made missiles at targets around the country.
When Houthi’s knocked out Abaiq-Kurais Aramaco refinery, Bin Salman said the Kingdom would respond at a time of its choosing. Over a year later, the father of Iran’s bomb was vaporized by a brazens, technologically sophisticated attack. “U.S. Secretary of State Mike) Pompeo’s hurried meeting in Saudi Arabia and Netanyahu’s statements all point to this conspiracy that unfortunately emerged in Friday’s cowardly territorial act and the martyrdom of one of the country’s top executives,” Zarif wrote on Instagram. Zarif points out how the Kingdom could have collaborated with the U.S. and Israel to pull off the brazen remote-controlled mission that left Iranian security baffled. It wasn’t that long ago Jan. 3, that 74-year-old President Donald Trump ordered the predator drone strike that killed 62-year-old Al-Qud’s leader Qassem Solemani.
Solemani’s killing outside the Baghdad airport with Iraq’s 62-year-old Ketaib Hezbollah Chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, infuriated Iran’s 81-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, launching a Cruise missile attack Jan. 8 on Iraq’s Ayn-al-Assad Airbase outside Baghdad, injuring over 100 U.S. troops. Trump at the time did not respond in kind, saying he would reserve right to respond at a time of his choosing. Al-Jubeir’s denial is standard operating procedure for Bin Salman who denied the Oct. 2, 2018 killing in Istanbul of Saudi-born Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Khashoggi spent at least two years writing critical pieces about Bin Salman and the Kingdom. Bin Salman denied to the bitter end any involvement in the targeted killing by Saudi Security Services, despite world leaders condemning Bin Salman for the murder.
Trump stuck with Bin Salman though the media firestorm that saw one of their own targeted by the Kingdom. Bin Salman waited out the controversy and his returned to his more high-profile role as Saudi Arabia’s defense minister. It’s inconceivable that the Kingdom would not take some revenge on Iran for supplying Houthis the guided missiles to attack the Kingdom, but also target Saudi’s main oil refinery. Iran had first blamed Israel and a homegrown rebel group from carry out the mission. But with the mission performed by remote control, it’s doubtful that any domestic terror group opposed to mullah rule would have the technical sophistication to pull off such an operation. Iran’s Ayatollah, President Hassan Rouhani or Zarif never admit that Iran is at war with the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia, all of whom seek periodic revenge.
If Iran is serious about ending the tit-for-tat killings of Iranian officials or scientists, the Ayatollah needs to come back to the peace table and stop its proxy wars against the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia. Trump cancelled U.S. involvement in former President Barack Obama’s July 15, 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] AKA “the Iranian Nuke Deal.” Obama’s deal handed Iran $1.6 billion in cash and $150 billion in sanctions relief in exchange for suspending its uranium enrichment program. Trump cancelled the deal because there was no verification or enforcement provision while Iran continued to build ballistic missiles to attack Saudi Arabia and Israel. Whatever happened with Fakhrizadeh Nov27, its entirely possible the United States and Saudi Arabia participated in the targeted assassination. If Iran wants things to change, they know what to do.
