Israeli Security Agencies Warn Nuclear Scientists of Assassination Attempts

Under the above heading, Igor Sobotin wrote, in "Nezavisimaya Gazeta,", a Russian –spoken magazine,  about how realistic Iran may target Israeli nuclear scientists or Israeli nuclear sites in revenge for the assassination of its nuclear scientist.

The article stated the Israeli scientists who previously worked at the Dimona nuclear reactor, in the southern section of Palestine received a warning from the Israeli security services about the risks to their lives.

The Israeli security circles believe that the Iranian leadership will try to take revenge.

While the safety of the Dimona facility itself, which is one of the oldest nuclear reactors in the world, raises recurring concerns, the United States of America (USA), an ally of the Jewish state, doubts the possibility of attacks from Iran.

For example, in a webinar organized by George Mason University, Eliot Abrams, the Iranian and Venezuelan special envoy, was asked whether there was a threat of a strike against the Islamic Republic and the outbreak of a military conflict. He said: “If I had to answer in one word, I would say no.”

According to him, analysts who are talking about the possibility of a war against the backdrop of the assassination of the Iranian expert Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Abrams said the same thing after the American strike in January, which killed Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Commenting on possible actions from Tehran, Stefan Meister, head of the South Caucasus office of the Heinrich Peel Fund, said: “They (the Iranians) are in a very difficult economic situation, and it seems logical to wait for an answer to the question whether it is possible to achieve a better deal or any rapprochement with the United States.

He added that at the same time, he can imagine an attack on Israel in order to prove that such actions (such as the assassination of Fakhrizadeh) are unacceptable."

Meister believes that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will come under strong pressure from hardliners within the country's elite. Thus, he has limited space not to provoke the United States too much, and at the same time, to demonstrate the potential for an appropriate response.