Israeli Defense Minister not ‘surprised’ if Iranian president assassinated

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is assassinated during the country’s upcoming elections.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman pointed to the extent of in-fighting in the Arab world on Monday as support for his contention that Israel was not involved in a Hamas assassination.

“We can say with certainty that it was an internal killing,” Liberman said, according to Haaretz, breaking Israeli silence on the murder of Hamas militant Mazen Faqha in Gaza on March 24th. Hamas blames his death on the Mossad, Israel’s spy agency.

“With my understanding of the system there and the man leading it, this looks like an internal affair. It is characteristic of terrorist organizations,” the defense minister added.

Lieberman claims Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ new hardline Gaza leader, killed a Hamas battalion commander last year, demonstrating assassinations are used to settle political scores in this area of the world.

Lieberman also claims Iran, a major supporter of Hamas, might see its own internal fighting.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if during the Iranian election on May 19, somebody assassinates the president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani.”

That election was made more interesting by the surprise inclusion of former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the candidate list. President Rouhani was generally viewed as a shoo-in to win re-election after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recommended in September that Ahmadinejad not run for the presidency.

By: World Israel News Staff