Donald Trump may have given a farewell gift to the Iranian government in the form of a car bomb that killed the man commonly referred to as the “father of the Iranian nuclear program.” Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a professor of physics and an officer in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, is credited with developing the Iranian military’s program to build a nuclear bomb in the early 2000s until the program went underground.

The Iranians believe that Israel was behind the assassination, but it’s doubtful they would have gone ahead with the plan without some sort of nod from Washington.

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تصاویری از محل ترور #محسن_فخری‌زاده
‌ pic.twitter.com/7eaKgNpc2u

— Rich Kids of Tehran (@RKOTOfficial) November 27, 2020

Times of Israel:

The attack happened in Absard, a small city just east of the capital, Tehran. Iran’s Fars and the Tasnim news agencies, both close to security sources, said it involved “terrorists bombing a car before shooting at Mr. Fakhrizadeh’s car.”

Those wounded, including Fakhrizadeh’s bodyguards, were later taken to a local hospital, Fars said.

State television on its website later published a photograph of security forces blocking off the road. Photos and video shared online showed a Nissan sedan with bullet holes through the windshield and blood pooled on the road.

جزئیات جدید از ترور یک دانشمند هسته‌ای

ساعاتی قبل «#محسن_فخری‌زاده» یکی از دانشمندان حوزه هسته‌ای کشور به دست عوامل تروریست در اطراف تهران ترور شد.

این ترور در شهر آبسرد رخ داده و تروریست‌ها پیش از تیراندازی به سمت خودروی «فخری زاده» اقدام به انفجار یک خودروی دیگر کرده‌اند pic.twitter.com/ICLAn4HMfk

— خبرگزاری تسنیم 🇮🇷 (@Tasnimnews_Fa) November 27, 2020

The Iranians appeared to acknowledge a role for Donald Trump in the assassination.

“In the last days of their gambling ally’s political life, the Zionists seek to intensify and increase pressure on Iran to wage a full-blown war,” Dehghan wrote, appearing to refer to US President Donald Trump. “We will descend like lightning on the killers of this oppressed martyr and we will make them regret their actions!”

Fakhrizadeh was mentioned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the father of the Iranian nuclear program in 2018 following Israeli intelligence carrying out a daring raid on a warehouse in Tehran that recovered tens of thousands of documents and proved Iran’s nuclear activities — past and present.

Fakhrizadeh led Iran’s so-called “Amad,” or “Hope” program. Israel and the West have alleged it was a military operation looking at the feasibility of building a nuclear weapon in Iran. Tehran long has maintained its nuclear program is peaceful.

The International Atomic Energy Agency says that the “Amad” program ended in the early 2000s. Its inspectors now monitor Iranian nuclear sites.

But Netanyahu said in his 2018 comments that Fakhrizadeh was continuing to lead such efforts secretly under SPND, “an organization inside Iran’s Defense Ministry.”

There have been whispers in Washington and Israel that Donald Trump may attack Iran in the waning days of his presidency. Given that there is so much misinformation coming out about Trump from Democrats (did you know Trump wants to bring back firing squads?), it’s hard to keep track of what dastardly act the president will carry out before he leaves office.

If Trump is actually thinking about attacking Iran, it’s a shame he didn’t do it years ago. As it is, I find it very doubtful Trump would choose this moment to hit the Iranian nuclear program.