Kourosh Ziabari

The announcement by Iran's intelligence ministry that it has arrested 20 people associated with the terrorist operations in which two of the country's nuclear scientists were assassinated received the Western mainstream media's meaningful silence, but clearly demonstrated the influence and might of Iran's intelligence apparatus, giving a serious warning to the hell-bent enemies of the nation that their further plots and conspiracies can be immediately nipped in the bud.

According to Iran's intelligence ministry, about 20 suspects linked to the assassination of nuclear scientists Majid Shahriari and Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan have been arrested and further details regarding their detainment will be released as soon as the security precautions are lapsed.

In an interview with Young Journalists Club, Iran's intelligence minister Heydar Moslehi said that these suspects, through the soil of a neighboring country, have frequently traveled back and forth to Israel to receive training, weaponry and ammunition needed to carry out their clandestine operations.

Different analyses have been put forward with regards to the assassination of Iran's nuclear scientists. The common point in all of the political commentators' assessments of the killings is that whether ordered and perpetrated by Israel or the United States, these killings are indicative of a large-scale, multifaceted covert conspiracy aimed at paralyzing Iran's nuclear program.

So far, five scientists in connection with Iran's nuclear program have been assassinated. The United States has denied any role in the murders, while Israel has remained silent. On June 14, BBC Persian website published a report in which it alleged that Israel has refused to deny involvement in the killings because it wants to intimidate Iranians and exaggerate the extent of its intelligence authority: "it's not clear whether or not the ambiguous stance of Israel's intelligence entities bespeaks of their actual involvement in the assassination of Iran's nuclear experts or is aimed at intimidating [Iranians] and strengthening this standpoint that these organizations are strikingly capable of carrying out their plans."

The same day and after the announcement of Iran's intelligence ministry that the main elements behind the killing of Dr. Shahriari and Dr. Ahmadi Roshan were arrested, Guardian published a biased report and absurdly claimed that Iran is incapable of protecting its scientists: "embarrassed domestically by the inability to protect its scientists, Iran claims it has launched various sophisticated operations to identify the culprits."

Hasn't the Guardian correspondent really noticed that it's impossible for such a large country as Iran with hundreds of researchers and scholars to designate bodyguards and provide exclusive security for all of its nuclear scientists? This report was resplendent with statements which showed an attempt to underestimate the important achievement of Iran's intelligence ministry.

The Western media did the same when Iran arrested and then executed the assassin of Dr. Masoud Ali Mohammadi, Iranian particle physics expert and a scientist associated with the country's nuclear program. Dr. Ali Mohammadi was killed when a booby-trapped motorbike parked near his car exploded when he was leaving his home to set off for university.

In his confessions, the 24-year-old killer, named Majid Jamali Fashi, revealed that he received USD 120,000 from CIA to assassinate Masoud Alli Mohammadi in a terrorist operation. On March 31, Haaretz cited the Time Magazine as reporting that the Western intelligence agencies have confirmed Fashi's detailed televised confessions as genuine. In his visits to Israel, Jamali Fashi received sophisticated physical and military training, one laptop containing details regarding the location of Dr. Ali Mohammadi's house and detonative boxes to be installed somewhere in the proximity of the victim's residence.

Now, with the Moscow nuclear talks between Iran and P5+1 underway and the detention of 20 people who are said to be Mossad and CIA spies, the world is once again focusing on the Israel-directed operations aimed at delivering a blow to Iran and convincing Tehran to give up its nuclear rights.

Launching recurrent cyber attacks to smash up Iran's uranium enrichment facilities and spreading dangerous viruses such as Stuxnet which have infected many computers related to the country's nuclear program paralleled with assassinating key figures in Iran's nuclear program, imposing severe financial sanctions and spearheading a pernicious media propaganda to demonize Iran and its people in the eyes of global public are the concerted efforts of the vicious triangle of Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom who have long tried to portray Iran as a threat to international peace and security.

Although Haaretz, in a March 31 story, reported that according to Wikileaks cables, Israel has scaled back its covert operations in Iran, the recent news that Iran has arrested 20 people linked to the assassination of two of its nuclear scientists shows that there are many hands at work which tirelessly make attempts to derail Iran's security and destabilize the country.

In an article published immediately after the assassination of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan on January 12, Jerusalem Post wrote, "eliminating the brains behind Tehran's nuclear program gives more time for diplomacy and sanctions to kick in."

The Israeli paper made a general statement with regard to the death of Dr. Ahmadi Roshan, writing that this assassination marked "another day in the ongoing shadow war between Iran and the Western world," meaning that perhaps it is not Tel Aviv that should be held responsible for the killing, but the other Western countries. This "deliberate ambiguity" is a characteristic policy of Israeli regime. They do the same with regards to their nuclear program. They neither affirm nor deny that they possess nuclear weapons, thus officially making a mockery of the international community.

Although the detention of 20 people connected with the assassination of Iran's nuclear scientists was downplayed by the mainstream media, it was a major intelligence breakthrough and will portend bad days for the intelligence services of Israel and the United States, bringing to light the fact that the ongoing progresses of Iran cannot be hindered by assassinating its scientists.

The arrests made by the intelligence apparatus of Iran renewed hopes that the mischievous and roguish plots of the enemy will not remain unanswered.

We should wait for the confessions of the terrorists to come which will unquestionably unveil many hidden facts behind the painful, heartrending assassination of Iran's nuclear scientists.

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- Kourosh Ziabari is an Iranian freelance journalist. He has interviewed political commentator and linguist Noam Chomsky, member of New Zealand parliament Keith Locke, Australian politician Ian Cohen, member of German Parliament Ruprecht Polenz, former Mexican President Vicente Fox, former U.S. National Security Council advisor Peter D. Feaver, Nobel Prize laureate in Physics Wolfgang Ketterle, Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry Kurt Wüthrich, Nobel Prize laureate in biology Robin Warren, famous German political prisoner Ernst Zündel, Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff, American author Stephen Kinzer, syndicated journalist Eric Margolis, former aSiddiqiistant of the U.S. Department of the Treasury Paul Craig Roberts, American-Palestinian journalist Ramzy Baroud, former President of the American Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Sid Ganis, American international relations scholar Stephen Zunes, American singer and songwriter David Rovics, American political scientist and anthropologist William Beeman, British journalist Andy Worthington, Australian author and blogger Antony Loewenstein, Iranian geopolitics expert Pirouz Mojtahedzadeh, American historian and author Michael A. Hoffman II and Israeli musician Gilad Atzmon.