Three intelligence officials told The New York Times on Friday that Israel was behind the attack in which senior Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was eliminated.
It is unclear how much the United States may have known about the operation in advance, according to The New York Times, and the White House declined to comment.
Fakhrizadeh has been considered the driving force behind Iran’s nuclear weapons program for two decades, and continued to work after the main part of the effort was quietly disbanded in the early 2000s.
Earlier on Friday, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said there were “serious indications” that Israel was involved in the elimination of a top nuclear scientist and called on the international community to condemn the elimination.
“Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today. This cowardice—with serious indications of Israeli role—shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators,” tweeted Zarif.
“Iran calls on int'l community—and especially EU—to end their shameful double standards & condemn this act of state terror,” he added.
Iran has in the past claimed that Israel hires assassins to kill nuclear scientists throughout the Middle East.
Between 2010 and 2012, four nuclear scientists were assassinated inside Iran and a fifth survived a bomb attack. The government in Iran has blamed the attacks on US, British and Israeli intelligence services.
The US and Britain denied involvement, while Israel has not commented.
