The Iranian nuclear scientist assassinated Friday in Tehran was targeted by a remote-controlled machine gun mounted in a car which later exploded, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency said Sunday, according to CNN.
As Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was traveling through Tehran in a four-car motorcade, with Fakhrizadeh riding in a bullet-proof car, he heard a number of popping sounds on the vehicle. He exited the car and was struck by at least three bullets from a Nissan parked about 150 yards away. A security guard was also wounded.
The attack lasted approximately three minutes, with gunfire continuing to hit the vehicles. As other security agents neared the Nissan, the car exploded, the news service reports. It is unclear if gunfire was coming from other sources.
“Undoubtedly, the Islamic Republic of Iran will give a calculated and decisive answer to the criminals who took Martyr Fakhrizadeh,” Seyed Kamal Kharrazi, the head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, was quoted as saying. He compared the assassination of Fakhrizadeh to the missile attack that assassinated Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani.
While speculation points to Israel as the nation responsible for the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declined to comment to CNN on Friday