Bid to sabotage Biden plan to explore Iran N-talks

The recent assassination of Iran’s tallest nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh appears to be aimed at sabotaging US President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to explore rapproachment with the country that is racing to develop a rogue N-bomb.

The shadowy ‘father’ of his country’s nuclear bomb programme was already a marked man as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had disclosed his identity two years ago and famously said, “Remember that name.” While Biden is saying his administration would try to walk Iran back to the bilateral nuclear peace accord signed by Obama from which President Donald Trump reneged in 2018, Israel is decidedly against the letter and spirit of the 2015 pact.

US media reports suggest Trump was looking at options to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities before bowing out of office but was talked out of it. Anyway, some action was widely expected before Biden assumed office on January 20, given the recent hectic diplomacy between Washington, Tel Aviv and Riyadh.

While Tehran is already pointing fingers at Israel’s spy agency Mossad for the assassination and calling for definitive punishment, the latter has remained silent so far, as has the incoming and outgoing US administration. In what was a military-style attack, Fakhrizadeh’s sedan was sprayed with bullets after a truck it was passing by blew up.

His was the second high-profile elimination this year after that of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps General Qasem Soleimani in a dramatic drone strike earlier, for which Trump claimed credit. The hit job is the latest in a series of attempts to delay and degrade Iran’s ability to build the bomb by taking out scientists and targeting installations through various means, both conventional and otherwise.

The attack also comes amid path-breaking restoration of diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab nations like the UAE and Bahrain. Part of Trump’s legacy, these bonds could be under test after Democrat Biden gets into the saddle, as the human rights card would get better play than now. Saudi Arabia seems to have put off repairing formal ties with Israel till Biden takes charge, hoping to use it as leverage against the anticipated human rights pitch. In sum, West Asian diplomacy is in for a churn as it awaits reset. Will peace get a chance?