Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran Supreme Leader, Says Those Behind Scientist Murder Will Be Punished

TEHRAN, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Thursday that those behind the killing of a nuclear scientist in Tehran would be punished, the official Irna news agency reported.

"We will continue our path with strong will ... and certainly we will not neglect punishing those responsible for this act and those behind it," Khamenei was quoted as saying.

Iran blamed its arch-enemies, Israel and the United States, for a blast which killed the nuclear scientist in his car on Wednesday, insisting the incident would not change the country's nuclear course.

The U.S. and its allies say Iran's nuclear programme is aimed at producing weapons. Iran says the programme is for peaceful purposes only. (Writing by Zahra Hosseinian; Editing by Louise Ireland)

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Comments

[ingoodconscience]

03:41 PM on 01/15/2012

Where are all the bright, college-educated, aspiring, middle-class young people we keep hearing about in Iran? When are they going to get rid of these theocratic demagogues who make Iran a dangerous pariah to the rest of the world?

[Jaws7]

11:27 PM on 01/17/2012

Get an education. Iran is not a pariah and a danger to the rest of the world.
The issue is how oil will be paid for. Sadam in Iraq requested Euros so he
was invaded. No weapons of mass destruction. Libya, Gaddafi did not want
dollars so he was invaded. Iran does not want dollars. Wants to be paid in
currencies of several other countries. Iran becomes a pariah. Wake up.

Iran has not started a war in over 200 years.

[Dave Dunn]

03:41 PM on 01/31/2012

Yes. What the above guy said.

[jabidi]

11:57 PM on 01/14/2012

Are You Ready For Another War?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=eTUwj4i4Rs4

[dcfball05]

11:16 PM on 01/14/2012

when we say NO, we mean it. you may not pursue nuclear technology in iran. period.

[Susan Shaffer]

06:05 AM on 01/16/2012

so why did bush give domestic nuclear technology to India when it didn't sign the non proliferation treaty?

[Ali1812]

09:15 PM on 01/31/2012

who died and made you king of the world
wait who are you and what country do you speak for

[nxston08]

03:26 PM on 01/14/2012

Isn't this the country where the Ayatollahs issue fatwas against people that it doesn't like?

[thingsrachanging]

11:09 AM on 01/14/2012

Is it beyond possible that while Iran is capturing all the attention, they are secretly sending their nuclear arsenal to Venezuela? The USA has never really had a major threat from South America other than drugs.

[RMax304823]

03:50 PM on 01/18/2012

Keep stretching for those scattered dots. No real major threat from South American yet. Eventually we'll get to the Inernation Conspiracy of Satanists and whatnot -- living in a world surrounde by treacherous, bitter, and unchanging enemies. The threats will be all over the place. I hear that Canada is shielding hordes of anti-American terrorist cells. The Eskimos are experimenting with a different form of fire. We haven't had a really major threat the the North Pole yet.

[Jaws7]

10:17 AM on 02/01/2012

Interesting. I would like to read more about what is taking place in our
world.

[REDSTATEREFUGEE]

10:15 AM on 01/14/2012

There is not a day that passes that I am thankful to be an American citizen. Even with our sometimes ludicrous political system, we are so much better off than unfortunate people suffering under the yoke of theocracies, like Iran. I just hope that the eruptions of last year's Arab Spring do not lead to sharia law in some Middle Eastern countries, but, if they do, I hope that the U.S. has the good sense to leave those nations alone....

[bluereality909]

02:22 AM on 01/14/2012

Hey Ayatollah, first you better prove who did it first. Kind of like your countries involvement in Afghanastan and Iraq....huh? How many US soldiers has your regime been complicit in killing.

Better watch what you do Khamenie, you might be the next one pissed on.

[RMax304823]

11:30 PM on 01/13/2012

If Hillary Clinton were cool and collected, she'd not only deny any American involvement in the assassinations -- which would probably be true -- but would add a message of sympathy and a criticism of terrorist tactics wherever they occur. (We ARE against terrorism, aren't we?) The Mullahs would continue their accusations against us, but we'd be believed by some of the younger Iranians who are fed up with theocracy. After all, they rioted in the streets after last year's rigged elections, and responsible journalists find that they want nuclear power but are uninterested in nuclear weapons. They have a lot of oil but no processing facilities, so they need energy from other sources. At any rate, nobody is in a position to argue that Obama and Hillary Clinton are in any way "soft on terrorism." So far it's been all stick and no carrot.

[Stavo]

08:39 PM on 01/13/2012

.....and if innocents are taken out because of those Iranian supposed supreme leaders.....then I wouldn't give you 2cents for their futures. lol

[zenju2]

08:09 AM on 01/13/2012

"In a surprise move, the Iranian regime declared today that in order to reduce needless tensions in the region, Tehran would extend immediate recognition to Israel and offer to begin unconditional face-to-face negotiations. Tehran and Jerusalem would agree to exchange ambassadors and maintain dialogue. While the Iranian leadership still insists it has difficulty accepting the status quo concerning Israel-Palestinian relations, Tehran would 'agree to disagree' and offer its services in helping to bring the two sides together. It is expected that Tehran's bold moves would disarm the 'hawks' urging military action."
If only...

[PermanentVacancy]

10:18 AM on 01/13/2012

Flynt Leverett, now with Brookings and before a State Department and CIA official, listed three initiatives that were rejected. Right after the Sept. 11 attacks, Iran offered to help Washington overthrow the Taliban. The U.S. declined the offer. Second, in the spring of 2003, top Iranian officials sent the White House a detailed proposal for comprehensive negotiations to resolve questions regarding its weapons programs, relations with Hezbollah and Hamas and a Palestinian peace agreement with Israel. This proposal was rebuffed and ignored.

Third, in October 2003, European officials secured an agreement from Iran to suspend Iranian uranium enrichment and to pursue talks that Mr. Leverett said "might lead to an economic, nuclear, and strategic deal." The Bush administration "refused to join the European initiative, ensuring that the talks failed," he added.

[IraqVet0607]

07:05 AM on 01/14/2012

Sources? Or did you magically pull these "facts" out of hat?

[Intruder196]

01:25 PM on 01/14/2012

Nice cut n paste. Does Ralph Nader know you hijacked his article?

[bluereality909]

02:17 AM on 01/14/2012

Do you have a link to this article?

[zenju2]

07:02 AM on 01/14/2012

Sadly, tragically, grievously, it's parody.

[AnasaziTribe]

10:21 PM on 01/12/2012

Iran is not working on a nuclear bomb, and we are not killing Iran's scientists. One denial deserves another. Ayatollah Khamenei can surely understand that nonsense.

[PermanentVacancy]

10:20 AM on 01/13/2012

A few days ago, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Iran was developing a capability for making nuclear weapons someday but was not yet building a bomb. So why is the Obama Administration talking about a western boycott of Iran’s oil exports, so crucial to its faltering, sanctions-ridden economy?

[Jaws7]

10:33 AM on 02/01/2012

It is simple. The dollar is not being used by some countries anymore. Create
tensions in the region to raise the price of oil which causes the price of oil to go
up and those countries that still use the dollar profit and require more dollars in
the system. Those that do not use the dollar have to discount the price of their
oil to sell it. It is a win win situation for the US and those countries still using
the dollar. Out of gratitude they buy our expensive weapons and everybody is
happy unless you are not using US dollars.

[Charles Queen]

06:04 PM on 01/12/2012

Ya,ya, whatever.So now the inspection teams are slated to go there or be there by the 28th of this month.Yep give em plenty of notice so they can hide everything they can and block off everything they don't want them to see,as usuall.Meanwhile a naval strike group is heading there to join up with the Vincent and other ships we have there now