Iran says has evidence U.S., UK behind assassination of academic

TEHRAN, Jan. 15 (MNA) – On Saturday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry issued two protest notes addressed to the U.S. and British governments holding them accountable for a terrorist attack on Iranian academic. Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, a graduate of Sharif University of Technology in chemical engineering and an official at the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, was assassinated in Tehran on January 11. The message addressed to the U.S. government, read, “According to authentic documents and reliable information, the assassination plot was directed, supported, and planned by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and was carried out with the direct involvement of the agents affiliated with this organization, and the government is directly responsible for it and should be answerable based on international regulations and rights and bilateral commitments.” The protest note was delivered to Swiss Ambassador Livia Leu Agosti. Iran and the United States do not have diplomatic relations and the Swiss Embassy in Tehran hosts the U.S. Interests Section in Iran. In the protest note, Iran also said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns the inhumane assassination, calls on the U.S. government to provide an immediate explanation, seriously warns about its repercussions, and calls on the (U.S.) government to stop supporting any kind of anti-humanitarian terrorist action against the lives of Iranian citizens, which is in contravention of international rights and the relevant commitments and pose a serious danger to international peace and security. In addition, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right to pursue the issue.” In the note addressed to the British government, the Foreign Ministry pointed to the remarks that MI6 chief Sir John Sawers made on October 28, 2010, in which he said, “Stopping nuclear proliferation cannot be addressed purely by conventional diplomacy. We need intelligence-led operations to make it more difficult for countries like Iran to develop nuclear weapons.” The note read, “The Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran takes into consideration the fact that the assassinations of Iranian scientists began right after the announcement of the very attitude of the British government by Mr. John Sawers, the head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, and once again expresses its protest about the repercussions of the mentioned attitude of the British government and holds the country responsible for such terrorists acts.” On November 29, 2010, two prominent physicists were targeted by terrorists in two separate bombings. Professor Majid Shahriari was killed and Professor Fereydoun Abbasi was injured in the attacks. On July 23, 2011, Dariush Rezaii, a university professor, was also killed in a terrorist attack in Tehran.