The Assassination of Dr. Fakrizadeh was a Mistake for Israel and the United States

 Iran 1, Netanyahu and Trump 0

The Israelis and Trump have miscalculated in carrying out this murder. The assassination of Dr. Fakhrizadeh was a really boneheaded, stupid stunt. The crime was undoubtedly conducted by Israel with the complicity of the United States. This assassination will not slow Iran's nuclear program (which by the way, is completely legal under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty--the NPT). It was a symbolic execution pure and simple. It was also designed to make it more difficult for President-elect Biden to negotiate with Iran. It was a failure on both counts. Whereas Dr. Fakrizadeh was historically important as a nuclear scientist, the Iranian nuclear program is by no means crippled by this. Iran has a large coterie of nuclear scientists and a robust infrastructure. Eliminating one person, no matter how "important" will not stop it. Second, rather than retaliate with some kind of military attack, the Iranians merely pushed the hot button they know will work--increasing their absolutely legal enrichment of uranium. Yes, the enriched uranium stockpiles exceed the limits specified in the JCPOA, an agreement (not a treaty) to assure that Iran would adhere to the NPT, which they still are doing. We should remind ourselves, that Trump withdrew from the agreement, The Europeans have also not been able to independently maintain the provisions of the agreement. The United States has not been attacked. Biden will be able to return to the JCPOA.