Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, speaking at a town hall event in Fort Bliss, Texas, told the assembled soldiers that the United States government has “some ideas” about who assassinated an Iranian nuclear scientist, but reiterated the US denial of any involvement in the killing.
“I’m not sure who was involved,” Panetta said when asked about Iran blaming the United States for the assassination. “We have some ideas as to who might be involved, but we don’t know exactly who was involved, but I can tell you one thing: The United States was not involved in that kind of effort. That’s not what the United States does.’
The Iranian government reportedly claims to have evidence that the CIA supported the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist who was killed by a magnetic car bomb attached to his vehicle.
“I know there was a suggestion at some point that somehow the United States was involved,” Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest said on Wednesday about the assassination. “That is categorically not true, and in fact this is the kind of violence that we would condemn.”
