Speaking Of Asia

Why an Iranian crisis matters to the rest of Asia

Iranian forces carry the coffin of Iranian nuclear scientist Dr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh during a funeral ceremony in Tehran, Iran, on Nov 30, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS

Amid the hand-wringing about what a Joe Biden administration in the United States could mean to the American posture in East Asia, here's something of equal importance unspooling in another corner of the continent that could, at some point, tail back to us: last week's murder of Iran's top nuclear scientist and the fallout from US President Donald Trump's end-of-term moves towards that nation.

Dr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was nailed as he travelled with his wife to a holiday resort popular with high-ranking officials. The assassination - if Iran were a democratic nation, it would surely be called a terrorist strike - was carried out with tactical brilliance, an act that clearly required weeks of planning and logistics coordination between intelligence gatherers and agents on the ground.

Already a subscriber? 

Read the full story and more at $9.90/month

Get exclusive reports and insights with more than 500 subscriber-only articles every month

Unlock these benefits

  • All subscriber-only content on ST app and straitstimes.com

  • Easy access any time via ST app on 1 mobile device

  • E-paper with 2-week archive so you won't miss out on content that matters to you

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.