JERUSALEM, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Israel warned on Thursday that Israeli targets abroad could come under attack by Iran, which has been issuing new threats against Israel since the killing of a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist.
In its warning, Israel’s counter-terrorism bureau said Iran could try to carry out attacks in nearby countries, including Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
“In light of threats recently coming from Iranian agents and in light of Iranian agents’ past involvement in terror attacks in various countries, there is concern that Iran will try to act in such a way against Israeli targets,” it said.
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Iran’s clerical and military rulers have blamed Israel for the killing its nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. A top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader has said that Iran will give a “calculated and decisive” response.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.
Fakhrizadeh, who had little public profile in Iran but had been named by Israel as a prime player in what it says is Iran’s nuclear weapons quest, was killed last Friday when he was ambushed on a highway near Tehran and his car sprayed with bullets.
Elliott Abrams, the top U.S. envoy on Iran, told Reuters on Thursday that Iran was unlikely to retaliate over the assassination before the inauguration of Joe Biden as president in case it jeopardizes any future sanctions relief.
(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
