The United Nations Security Council is unlikely to take action over the assassination of leading Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, according to a Tuesday report.
Fakhrizadeh, considered the architect of Iran’s nuclear weapons program, was killed on Friday as his car was targeted in a bomb and gun attack on a road outside the capital Tehran, heightening tensions once more between Tehran and its foes.
But South Africa’s U.N. ambassador, Jerry Matjila, council president for December, said on Tuesday that no member had so far requested to discuss the killing or Iran in general. Diplomats also said there had been no discussion of a statement.
The Security Council is charged with maintaining international peace and security and has the ability to authorize military action and impose sanctions. But such measures require at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China.
While no party has claimed responsibility for the killing of Fakhrizadeh – viewed by Western powers as the architect of Iran’s abandoned nuclear weapons program – Iran has accused Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has declined to comment.
The Security Council is due to meet on Dec. 22 for its biannual meeting on compliance with a resolution that enshrines a 2015 nuclear accord between world powers and Iran, which U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration quit in 2018.
Any council member or Iran could choose to raise the killing of Fakhrizadeh during that meeting.
