TEHRAN – Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Abbas Salehi on Sunday visited the family of the nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was assassinated in a terrorist attack last month.

He called Fakhrizadeh a scientist who enjoyed both the virtues of martyrdom and science together.

“In the religious teachings, science enjoys a very high value, but the other value mentioned in Islam is the virtue of martyrdom. These two create a special fertility in the field of social knowledge,” the minister said. 

He noted that the assassination of Fakhrizadeh was a great loss, adding that if science and martyrdom are combined together, the value will be twice as much. 

The minister added that Fakhrizadeh’s wish for martyrdom finally came true and that the people of Iran have always honored the martyrs.

He said, “Before his martyrdom, Fakhrizadeh was not much known amongst people but now those who have been working with him talk about his many good moral values.”

Addressing the martyr’s wife, he said, “Your speech after his martyrdom and your resistance has been very influential and indicates that the path of the martyrs of Karbala and Hazrat Zeinab (SA) [sister of Imam Hussein (AS)] still continues.”

On November 27, the convoy of Fakhrizadeh suddenly came under attack on a highway in the small city of Absard in Damavand County, about 40 kilometers east of the capital Tehran. The scientist lost his life during the attack while his bodyguards were severely injured. 

Iranian officials were quick to point the finger at Israel, which has carried out many assassination operations against Iranian nuclear scientists over the past decade. 

Photo: Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Abbas Salehi (2nd L) visits the family of the nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh at their home in Tehran on December 13, 2020.

RM/MMS/YAW