MOSCOW. Nov 30 (Interfax) - The United States redeploying its fighter aircraft to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as several other U.S. steps, suggest a readiness for large-scale hostilities, which could be triggered by the murder of Iranian nuclear physicist Fakhrizadeh, according to Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the Federation Council's Foreign Affairs Committee.
"The American media, citing a Pentagon statement, are reporting that the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier Nimitz and the accompanying strike group have been ordered to return to the Persian Gulf zone. The Pentagon had ordered the Nimitz deployment to the Persian Gulf shortly before the murder of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. And the U.S. Central Command last week announced having redeployed a squadron of F-16 fighters from Germany to the UAE to 'deter aggression and promote security and stability'," Kosachyov wrote on Facebook on Saturday.
"All these preparations are testament to readiness for large-scale hostilities which need a trigger, which the death of the Iranian nuclear physicist may well be. Dangerous games, whose consequences are unpredictable but definitely negative. And the blame for it is not on the Iranian leadership."
Whoever was behind the murder of Fakhrizadeh, who led an Iranian Defense Ministry research center, it can doubtless be characterized as a terrorist attack aimed at destabilizing the region and provoking Tehran's backlash, he said. "So now, a great deal, of course, depends on the objectivity of the Iranian investigation of this murder, on its reaction, as well as on the position of the international community," Kosachyov said.
Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif had called on international community, especially the European Union, to put an end to "the shameful double standards and condemn this act of state terror," Kosachyov said.
The EU reaction was fairly clear-cut, he said. "The EU condemns this murder, the website of the EU's External Action Service said, and considers it to be a crime which contravenes the principle of human rights protection advocated by the EU," the Russian senator said.
"Thus, Tehran has gone down the civilian path, unlike those who organized this assault - that's apropos the permanent accusations of Iran's 'sponsoring terrorism'," Kosachyov said.