Pakistani forces raid hideout, kill Taliban fighters suspected of slaying of troops
Two Syrians face terrorism charges over army officer's killing
Israel's two largest banks sign cooperation agreements with Bahrain's NBB
Egypt seizes assets of Morsi, 88 Muslim brotherhood members
ANALYSIS: Iran is a safe haven for Al-Qaeda
The Factual Version of a Story
Features Top Stories
Analysis: Iran's Achilles' heel? Security gaps and possible enemy infiltration
December 2, 2020 December 2, 2020 Milli Chronicle Contributor	iran, israel, mohsen Fakhrizadeh, tehran, trump, united states
Iran's inability to thwart such operations could encourage future attempts.
Dubai (Reuters) – The killing of Iran's top nuclear scientist has exposed security gaps which suggest its security forces may have been infiltrated and that the Islamic Republic is vulnerable to further attacks.
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh's killing on Friday followed two other big security lapses — the theft of Iran's nuclear archive and a fire at a nuclear facility this year that some Iranian officials blamed on cyber sabotage.
With Fakhrizadeh the fifth Iranian nuclear scientist killed in targeted attacks since 2010, security experts are suggesting Iran's enemies have found its Achilles' heel.
Commander Hossein Dehghan, a former defence minister, told state television Fakhrizadeh had been killed because of "infiltration into Iran's security structure."
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards' Security Force, or Close Protection Unit, assigns bodyguards and security officers to top military and civilian officials.
"His assassins obviously operated based on detailed intelligence about martyr Fakhrizadeh's movements," an Iranian security official told Reuters after Fakhrizadeh was killed in an attack on his car on a highway near Tehran in broad daylight.
"It is clearly a security weakness and many questions should be answered," said the official, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. "We should know whether there are spies among security people and locate the leak. This is essential for us."
Iran's military and clerical rulers have accused Israel of killing Fakhrizadeh. Israel had identified him as a prime player in what it says is Iran's nuclear weapons quest though Tehran denies seeking nuclear arms.
Israel has not commented on the incident but in the past has acknowledged pursuing covert operations against Iran's nuclear programme to gather intelligence.
"There are conflicting accounts on how Fakhrizadeh was assassinated, but a degree of infiltration is certain – and this is what worries the Islamic Republic the most," said Kasra Aarabi, an Iran analyst at the Tony Blair Institute for Change think tank.
Contradictory Scenarios
Iran has given contradictory details of the killing of Fakhrizadeh. Shortly after he was killed, witnesses told state television that a truck exploded before a group of gunmen opened fire on Fakhrizadeh's car.
On Sunday, Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, told state TV it was "a very sophisticated assassination that was carried out remotely with electronic devices" and with no people on the ground.
"We have no idea whether these reports of a satellite-controlled-truck-mounted-machine-gun are true, but they serve two key purposes for Tehran: trying to deflect embarrassment by portraying the assassination as remarkably sophisticated; and showing how quickly they can crack the case," said Henry Rome, senior analyst with Eurasia Group.
"The existence of large chinks in Iran's nuclear armour is sure to raise questions over the role sabotage could or should play in any future counter proliferation policy towards Tehran," said Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) think tank in Washington.
In 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel had smuggled hundreds of kilograms of paper and digital files on Iran's secret nuclear weapons programme out of the Islamic Republic. Iran rejected this as fraudulent.
Fakhrizadeh's killing comes months after a U.S. drone strike in Iraq killed Qassem Soleimani, head of the Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force. Tehran retaliated by launching missile strikes against U.S. targets in Iraq.
In July, Iran executed an Iranian man convicted of spying for U.S. and Israeli intelligence. The Judiciary said Mahmoud Mousavi-Majd, who was arrested in 2018, had spied on Soleimani but that the case was not connected to Soleimani's killing on Jan. 3.
"Crushing" Response Or Not?
Iran has said it will launch a "crushing" response to Fakhrizadeh's killing.
Political analysts said retaliatory measures could make it hard for U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office on Jan. 20, to scrap President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" policy on Iran.
Biden has said that if Tehran resumes compliance with the 2015 agreement with six powers limiting its nuclear programme, he will return to the pact, which Trump quit in 2018 and then reimposed sanctions that have hit Iran's economy hard.
"Iran will retaliate but it will not be a crushing response that could lead to full-blown war with Israel," said an analyst in Tehran, who asked not to be named.
President Hassan Rouhani has said Iran will retaliate for Fakhrizadeh's killing at "the proper time" but will not "fall into Israel's trap" in the last weeks of Trump's presidency.
"Considering that Trump is still in the White House for another two months, Tehran's escalation options are going to have to be restrained," said Taleblu. "Despite talk of a potential military reprisal against Israel directly, that would be a low-probability high-impact scenario."
← China successfully lands spacecraft on moon to retrieve lunar rocks
Hamas Gaza chief tests positive for COVID-19, spokesman says →
Saudi Arabia builds new houses in Gaza for Palestinians
May 17, 2019 May 17, 2019 Millichronicle
Armed group robs Mexican gold mine, flees in plane
April 10, 2020 April 10, 2020 Milli Chronicle Contributor
Iran sees no arms buying spree as it expects U.N. embargo to end
October 19, 2020 October 19, 2020 Milli Chronicle Contributor
Opinion Top Stories
OPINION: Iran's Khamenei leaves people defenseless against the Coronavirus
January 10, 2021 January 10, 2021 Millichronicle
4 mins read by Cyrus Yaqubi Khamenei's refusal to allow the vaccine's entry is another clear sign of its concern for possible social
OPINION: Why is Twitter censoring Trump, but not the CCP?
January 10, 2021 Millichronicle
OPINION: Gulf Reconciliation—The Ball is in Qatar's Court
January 5, 2021 January 5, 2021 Millichronicle
OPINION: How the mighty Iranian regime is falling fast
December 21, 2020 December 21, 2020 Millichronicle
Education Latest Lifestyle
UNICEF's Framework for Reopening Schools amidst COVID-19
August 6, 2020 August 6, 2020 Millichronicle
10 mins read by United Nations Children's Fund This framework serves to inform the decision-making process on when to reopen schools, support national
Education Latest Lifestyle Top Stories
Mathematics shapes your child as a Risk-Taker and a Winner
Faith Latest Lifestyle Top Stories
FAITH: Three Means to Happiness And Their Opposites—Ibn Qayyim
December 18, 2020 Millichronicle
2 mins read The basis of the happiness (success, wellbeing. etc) of a person are three… Imaam Ibnul Qayyim said, "The most mindless
Faith Lifestyle
FAITH: Why does Allah inflict suffering and hardship? What's wisdom in it?
October 16, 2020 October 16, 2020 Millichronicle
Faith Lifestyle Top Stories
FAITH: Rights of Women in Islam
October 2, 2020 October 2, 2020 Millichronicle
Faith Latest Lifestyle
FAITH: The Superstitious Beliefs and the month of Safar
September 24, 2020 September 24, 2020 Millichronicle
Latest Lifestyle Top Stories Variety
Sick ants self-quarantine to stop the disease spreading
2 mins read by Sam Wong Foragers are most likely to pick up infections, but they interact less with other ants… Do you
Latest Lifestyle Variety
Malaysian research team turns pineapple waste into disposable drone frames
Australia changes national anthem wording to reflect Indigenous history
January 2, 2021 January 2, 2021 Milli Chronicle Contributor
Drainage works unearth Roman baths in heart of Jordan's capital
December 31, 2020 December 31, 2020 Milli Chronicle Contributor
Blogs Top Stories
BLOG: 'Erdogan is a Freemason' claim didn't surprise me, why?
June 9, 2020 August 5, 2020 Millichronicle
3 mins read by Abu Talha Why the Ottoman-family built such a great lodge and what's their connection with Freemasons… I wasn't surprised
BLOG: COVID—19 and Social Media
March 31, 2020 March 31, 2020 Millichronicle
BLOG: COVID—19 and its measures
Beard has never been a Hurdle in getting Job
The Milli Chronicle is an independent non-profitable Online News-portal which publishes free content contributed independently or reshared from other media and news networks while attributing the "First published on" to the original source.
The Milli Chronicle also publishes copy-righted content where owners don't explicitly warn about utilizing their intellectual property.
The Milli Chronicle's Opinion section does not reflect portal's point of view, the Op-ed columnists are solely responsible for the content. We publish the material for the readers with the provisions of "fair use" in order to help readers with better insights of politics, economics, and socio-religious issues.
Archives Select Month January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 June 2016 March 2015 March 2014
Feel free to write to us and send us your creative articles, blogs, and opinion at millichronicle@gmail.com.