Mohsen Fakhrizadeh

Iran has sentenced three people to death over the 2020 assassination of one of the country's top nuclear scientists, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the judiciary said on Tuesday.

The situation in the Middle East remains highly volatile and appears increasingly grim. In Western capitals, there is significant concern about a potential escalation of Israel’s conflict with the terrorist organizations Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iranian involvement cannot be dismissed either.

According to the report, which cites seven Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranians and one American official, the explosive device was secretly brought into the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) building in Tehran approximately two months ago.

The Iranian hitmen, who were preparing to implement a plan to attack and kidnap Israeli diplomats and tourists, have made target practice in hotel rooms, Istanbul police have found out.

The police teams revealed the reconnaissance footage of the Iranian assassination team, which was determined to be preparing to assassinate Israeli citizens in Istanbul.

Members of an Iranian team, caught on June 17 in Istanbul, were going to implement a two-stage plan to attack and kidnap Israeli diplomats and tourists, the daily Milliyet has reported.

Türkiye's National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and police busted the Iranian intelligence service SAVAMA in Istanbul on June 17.

They were allegedly preparing to kidnap and attack Israeli diplomats and tourist groups in Istanbul.

They have determined that the shooters who planned to take part in the attacks were in Istanbul.

Mohammad Bagher Moradi, an Iranian dissident journalist who took refuge in Turkey nine years ago while he was on trial in Tehran for covering news against the regime, has been abducted by Iranian intelligence in the capital Ankara, his family has alleged.

"My son was a dissident journalist. Iranian intelligence was after him. He was kidnapped by them," Mohsen Moradi said.

Iran has blamed Israel for the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh

Iran has moved to stop UN inspections of its nuclear sites and step up uranium enrichment under a new law approved by its parliament.

 The bill would require the government to resume enriching uranium to 20% - well above the 3.67% agreed under a 2015 nuclear deal - if crippling sanctions are not eased in two months.

President-elect Joe Biden has signaled he will return the United States to a nuclear accord with Iran before quickly launching talks on other concerns, reviving diplomacy to ease soaring tensions.