Iran’s supreme leader vows revenge over slain scientist

Iran’s supreme leader is calling for “definitive punishment” of those behind the killing of a scientist linked to Tehran’s disbanded military nuclear program.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the comment Saturday in a statement carried on his official website.

Khamenei called Mohsen Fakhrizadeh “the country’s prominent and distinguished nuclear and defensive scientist.”

Iranian officials have blamed Israel for the killing. Israel, long suspected of killing scientists a decade ago amid tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program, has yet to comment on the killing Friday.

The slaying threatens to renew tensions between the US and Iran in the waning days of President Donald Trump’s term.