Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday (March 12) that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched an attack on the senior Iranian nuclear scientist and killed him.
In a press conference on Thursday, Netanyahu told reporters that the slain scientist had led Iran’s nuclear bomb development work.
“In this operation, we also paved the way for comprehensive strikes against Iran’s vast missile arsenal and production facilities, as well as its nuclear projects, including a heavy blow to senior Iranian scientists leading the development of nuclear bombs aimed at destroying us,” he said.
“They are no longer among the living,” he added.
Netanyahu also mentioned Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mujtaba Hamenei, who has not made any public appearances since his appointment.
“In a short period of time, we have eliminated the tyrant Hamenei and many senior figures in the terrorist regime,” he said.
“The old dictator is dead, and the new dictator, the puppet Mujtaba Hamenei of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, hasn’t even had the chance to show his face in public,” he said.
Since Iran announced on Sunday that Hamenei would succeed his father, the late Hamenei, as the Supreme Leader, Mujtaba Hamenei has not appeared in public.
On Thursday, Iranian state media released what was claimed to be Mujtaba Hamenei’s first public statement, but he did not appear in the video or release an audio statement. Rumors about Mujtaba Hamenei being injured in U.S. and Israeli bombing operations have been rampant in recent days.
When asked about the fate of Mujtaba Hamenei, Netanyahu refused to disclose whether Israel has any plans to attack him, but he said, “I will not buy life insurance for any leader of this terrorist regime, nor will I tell you what we are planning and what we are going to do.”
Netanyahu stated that the Israeli military has dealt a “heavy blow” to Iran and its proxies, significantly weakening their capabilities, but he added that Israel is “determined to complete this mission.”