Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has lashed out at the West's silence toward recent terror attacks in Tehran and the murder of an Iranian scientist, Press TV reported.
"This move by the Westerners, who are frequently condemning terrorist acts but have remained silent on the recent assassinations in Iran, is scandalous and disgraceful," IRNA quoted Larijani as saying in the holy city of Qom on Thursday.
On November 30, Iranian academic Majid Shahriari was killed in Tehran, when terrorists riding a motorcycle attached a bomb to the vehicle he was driving. The ensuing explosion claimed the life of the university professor on the spot and left his wife wounded.
On the same day, Dr. Fereydoun Abbasi, another academician and his wife were wounded in a separate incident in the Iranian capital, but the two escaped the attack with injuries.
Resolution 1747 adopted by the UN Security Council in March 2007 against the Islamic Republic cited the name of Abbasi as a "nuclear scientist," suggesting associations between the terrorists and those who included the professor's name in the document.
"Deception, chicanery and thirst for power dominate the international community, otherwise Iran's nuclear affairs do not require so many turns and twists by the West," he added.
Larijani said the West, the United States in particular, was afraid of a wave of "awakening" led by the Islamic Republic which has intensified the anti-US sentiment in the Middle East.
The impasse with Iran over its nuclear program or human rights record are a mere cover-up to conceal their real concern, he pointed out.
"The Islamic awakening that our [1979 Islamic] Revolution has created ...has caused awareness in the region and this has prompted the recent assassinations by terrorist elements," Larijani concluded.