Iran: Tehran pays tribute to murdered scientist

The funeral of the Iranian scientist, the victim of an assassination attributed to Israel on Friday, began on Monday (November 30th) at the Iranian defense ministry, according to images broadcast live by state television.

A limited audience attends the ceremony on chairs lined up in the open air in order to respect the health protocols in force against the coronavirus in the Iranian capital.

Read also: Touched to the heart, Iran weighs its response after the assassination of a nuclear program official

State television focused on the officials present: Defense Minister Amir Hatami, unable to contain his tears, General Esmaïl Qaani, head of the Quds Force - an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guards, the regime's ideological army - or vice-president Ali Akbar Saléhi, head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization (OIEA) visibly affected.

Major General Hossein Salami, Commander-in-Chief of the Guardians, is also present.

"

" declared General Hatami, paying homage to "

" Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh's coffin.

WANA NEWS AGENCY / VIA REUTERS

Installed on a podium in the colors of Iran (green, red white), Fakhrizadeh's flowery coffin bore the names of the main holy figures of Shiism.

Fakhrizadeh was killed on Friday in an attack on his car near Tehran.

His remains were honored on Saturday evening and Sunday in two of Iran's main Shiite holy places (in Mashhad, in the northeast, and in Qom, in the center), before a tribute at the mausoleum of Imam-Khomeini in Tehran.

According to Tehran, Israel is behind Fakhrizadeh's death.

Accusing the Hebrew state of wanting to sow "

", Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has promised a response "

".

After his death, General Hatami introduced the nuclear physicist as his deputy minister and head of the Defense Research and Innovation Organization (Sepand as the acronym in Persian), stressing that he had accomplished “

” in the area of ​​“

”.