Iranian nuclear energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi stated on Wednesday that the killing of a senior atomic scientist earlier this week was a warning from the West ahead of new talks on Tehran's works. "These wicked people wanted to show their hideous side which demonstrates their carrot and stick policy in the run-up to the new nuclear talks," state television's website quoted Salehi as saying.
He was speaking at the funeral of Majid Shahriari, the scientist who was assassinated by unidentified bombers in the capital on Monday.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, who is to lead his country's delegation to the talks with the major powers in Geneva next week, slammed Western governments as he joined the mourners. "They used all the capabilities at their disposal, like passing resolutions, imposing sanctions and piling on political pressure but they did not gain anything," state television's website quoted him as saying. "Today they have resorted to assassination, which shows their desperation and the dead end they have reached."
