Rouhani says Iran won't leave nuclear scientist's assassination 'unanswered,' accuses Israel

Hassan Rouhani.
(Image credit: Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images)

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday said Iran would not leave the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, one of Iran's top nuclear scientists whom Israeli and American intelligence officials suspected led Tehran's nuclear weapons program, "unanswered." Rouhani blamed Israel for the assassination — "once again, the evil hands of global arrogance and the Zionist mercenaries were stained with the blood of an Iranian son," he said — and warned of retaliation "in due time."

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei didn't mention Israel in his response, but he said Iranian officials must commit to "pursuing this crime and punishing its perpetrators and those who commanded it."

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.