Most in fact, Rosati on Sunday, days after his killing, which Tehran blames on Israel factories are long suspected by Western and Israeli governments of masterminding a secret nuclear weapons program, was ambushed on a highway near Tehran on Friday and gunned down in his car.

Kamal Kharazi, a top adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said in a statement on Sunday that those responsible would receive a calculated on decisive answer, while one hardline Iranian newspaper called for an attack on the port city Haifa if an Israeli role is proven.

Iran has in the past accused Israel of killing several nuclear scientists.

Since 2010, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has declined to comment.

But Iran's rulers are aware of the daunting military and political difficulties in attacking Israel.

Not least, it would complicate the easing of hostilities with the United States.

Iran has gradually been breaching a 2015 nuclear deal with major world powers since President Donald Trump withdrew the U.

S.