Burial of Iran’s atomic scientist begins !
Vowing to redouble his work after an assassination pinned on arch-foe Israel, Iran laid to rest a nuclear scientist in a funeral befitting a top “martyr” Monday. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh died on Friday from his wounds after assailants targeted his car and engaged in a gunfight with his bodyguards outside the capital, according to the defence ministry, heightening tensions once more between Tehran and its foes.
State television showed several high-ranking Iranian officials mourning the nuclear scientist’s death at the ceremony, including defence minister Amir Hatami and the head of the Revolutionary Guards Hossein Salami.
The funeral, held at the ministry, got underway with a religious singer praising Fakhrizadeh and alluding to the martyrdom of Imam Hossein, the revered 7th century holy figure from whom Shiite Muslims draw inspiration.
“If our enemies had not committed this heinous crime and spilled our dear martyr’s blood, he might have remained unknown,” Hatami said in a speech.
“But today, he who was only an idol for […] his students and colleagues, is introduced to the whole world,” he added, saying he will be an inspiration for “all who embark on the path to fight.”
“The enemies should know, that this is their first defeat.”
Hatami had said after the scientist’s death that Fakhrizadeh was one of his deputies and headed the ministry’s Defence Research and Innovation Organization, focusing on the field of “nuclear defence.”
In his speech, he said the government has decided to double the organisation’s budget to continue Fakhrizadeh’s path “vigorously.”
A large display showed a picture of Fakhrizadeh next to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as former top general Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a January air strike by the US in Baghdad.
At around 11:30 am (approximately 0800 GMT) the scientist’s coffin was being buried at Imamzadeh Saleh, an important Shiite shrine in northern Tehran where two other slain nuclear scientists were buried in 2010 and 2011.
