Iran’s Parliament and other authorities say the U.S. and Israel had a hand in the assassination of Daryoosh Rezainejad, the graduate student who was killed yesterday in Tehran.
Iranian media cited Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani as saying: "Yesterday’s U.S.-Zionist terrorist act that targeted one of the elites of Iran is another example of the level of U.S. hostilities toward Iran and goes to show that the Americans regard such acts as acceptable in their so-called global management."
In addition, 200 Iranian MPs issued a statement accusing the U.S. and Israel of Rezainejad’s assassination as well as the recent deaths of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps members in the Iran-Iraq border regions, where they faced PJAK forces. The statement calls on intelligence and security forces to act decisively to arrest and punish the perpetrators in both cases.
Kamran Daneshjoo, Iran’s Minister of Science and Technology, issued condolences for the student’s assassination, blaming "criminal Zionists and elements of world arrogance."
Tehran Governor Morteza Tamaddon spoke at Rezainejad’s funeral at Khajeh Nasireddin Toosi University, saying that evidence gathered at the scene leads authorities to believe they will soon "have all the details of this criminal action."
He added: "Do not doubt that this U.S.-Israeli project to target our elite and our thinkers is meant to disappoint, discourage and frustrate the Iranian nation on it chosen path."
Daryoosh Rezainejad, an electronics graduate student at Kajeh Nasirredin Toosi University, was shot by unidentified gunmen yesterday together with his wife, Shohreh Pirani.
Rezainejad was killed in the attack, and his wife is being treated in hospital.
Iranian media first reported the victim as being Daryoosh Rezai, a nuclear physicist. The reports were later corrected, and the confusion appears to have arisen over the similarity in their names.
So far there have been no specific reports regarding the motivation for yesterday’s assassination.
