Iran is increasing security for its nuclear scientists following the mysterious assassination of a physicist in Tehran last week, and continuing to charge Israel and the U.S. with a covert killing campaign. Mohammad-Reza Rahimi, Iran’s first vice president, announced the “remarkable measures” to protect its scientists on Tuesday, Iranian state television reported.
The assassination of Mustafa Ahmadi Roshan marked the fifth time a nuclear scientist associated with Iran’s nuclear weapons program has died in an apparent assassination since 2007. His death comes at a time when Western intelligence officials are warning that Iran is less than a year away from its goal of creating a nuclear weapon. Iranian officials claim the country’s nuclear programs are aimed at medical research and energy production.
U.S. officials have denied any involvement in the assassinations. Israel has remained silent in the face of Iranian accusations.
Iran has recently threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz after the United States and European countries said they would phase in new sanctions in an effort to force the ruling regime to halt its nuclear ambitions. Iran also test-fired new missiles recently, and announced it has produced its first nuclear fuel rod — moves that have increased a sense of urgency for the West and its allies.
The Obama administration pushed sanctions against the Iranian Central Bank through Congress in January that were designed to slowly strangle Iranian oil trade, which would cripple the country’s economy. The effectiveness of those sanctions hinges on the degree to which members of the European Union live up to promises to do the same.
Michael O’Hanlon, a national security expert with the Brookings Institution, said sanctions against Iran are “a punishment strategy — not a prevention strategy — at present.”
The European Union, particularly Italy, Greece and Spain, is reluctant to join in the sanctions because of economic uncertainty at home. Greece imports 35 percent of its oil from Iran, and can’t afford another hit to its bereft economy. European Union representatives are expected to meet on Monday to discuss the sanctions.
“I tend to think that is the right way to go, but it cannot guarantee that Iran won’t get the bomb,” O’Hanlon said. “Then again, neither can airstrikes, at least not for long.”
Israeli military officials said Tuesday the possibility of a nuclear Iran will make it difficult to protect the state from Iranian-supported terror groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, the Associated Press reported.
Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel said that if Iran acquires nuclear weapons it could use the threat of nuclear escalation to prevent Israel from striking terrorist groups in Lebanon and Gaza.
“If we are forced to do things in Gaza or in Lebanon, under the Iranian nuclear umbrella, it might be different,” Eshel told reporters. He said a nuclear-armed Iran would lead to “a global nuclear jungle” in the region.
Sara A. Carter is The Washington Examiner’s national security correspondent. She can be reached at [email protected].
