International Law Experts: Assassination of Nuclear Scientists is a Clear Example of State Terrorism

 

At the beginning of the session, Dr. Mohammad Sharif, a professor at Allameh Tabatabaei University, stated that the events in Syria are a clear example of governments’ support for terrorism. He continued that Mohammad al-Julani is a person for whom the US government has set a reward of ten million dollars for his arrest, but he is easily roaming the Syrian scene.

The professor at Allameh Tabatabaei University continued that the organizations that have overthrown the secular government of Assad are generally terrorist organizations that are also recognized as terrorist groups by the United States and Europe, and even the United States has classified the terrorist group Tahrir al-Sham as a dangerous terrorist group. He continued, this point is instructive because governments are either sponsors of terrorism, such as the assassination of nuclear scientists and the sending of viruses to nuclear facilities in Iran, or they are supporters of terrorism, such as international terrorist organizations that we are witnessing in the world today.

This faculty member of Allameh Tabatabaei University stated in another part of his speech that after the September 11 incident, the United States created a committee called the Counter-Terrorism Committee in the Security Council, which is composed of members of the Security Council, and all they can do is determine the list of terrorist groups. This is while before this committee and in previous years, we have witnessed the presence of terrorist groups on the scene of the Middle East region. He continued, in the occupied territories, Zionist terrorist groups such as Irgun, Stern and Haganah have committed crimes and crimes for years, and their leaders, who played a major role in massacres such as the Deir Yassin massacre, later won the Nobel Peace Prize. In Afghanistan, Salafi terrorism was also formed with financial and ideological support from Saudi Arabia and logistical assistance from the United States.

Dr. Mohammad Sharif concluded by saying that there is no terrorist group that is not directly or indirectly supported by governments.

Continuing the meeting, Dr. Haibatullah Najandimanesh, a faculty member at Allameh Tabatabaei University, referred to a comprehensive definition of terrorism and stated that, based on an accepted definition of terrorism, any person who, by using violence, commits murder or inflicts severe physical injuries on individuals with the aim of creating terror and terror in society, or forcing a government or international organization to do or refrain from doing something, has committed a terrorist crime. He continued that when this action takes on an international dimension, it becomes international terrorism.

The professor of international law at Allameh Tabatabaei University continued that governments are the only institutions that are allowed to legitimately use force. However, if this use of force is not legitimate or legal, government actions can also be called state terrorism.

In another part of his speech, Dr. Najandimanesh said that an example of state terrorism was the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists, because it includes all three elements of terrorism, namely the use of violence, creating fear among the people and scientists of Iran, and forcing the Islamic Republic to stop its nuclear program or forcing nuclear scientists to resign from their duties.

At the end of the session, Ms. Haq Panahi, a victim of terrorism and a veteran of terrorism, asked the experts of the session, “We have become familiar with the concept of international terrorism, now the question is how should we confront this phenomenon?”

In response to this question, Dr. Mohammad Sharif stated that if we reach a human-centered global community, we can confront these cases, and Dr. Najandimanesh also replied that we must move towards creating immunity in our own societies because terrorists are always there and commit terrorist acts for reasons such as economic or psychological.