Iran's top nuclear scientist was killed on Saturday after his car was ambushed outside Tehran.
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh died after he was rushed to hospital.
Iranian leaders have said Israel was behind the ambush and it will not fall into the trap by responding carelessly.
According to Diako Hosseini, a senior researcher with the Center for Strategic Studies, the research arm of the Iranian president’s office, Iran is unlikely to pursue a military response in the short term, but that does not mean the assassination of Fakhrizadeh will go unanswered.
“I think at the moment, evaluating all the aspects of this assassination and legally pursuing it would have a higher priority for Iran,” Hosseini told Al Jazeera.
“Iran knows well that the political aspect of this assassination is a more important goal for Israel: to escalate tensions before the end of the Trump administration and dragging Iran and the US into a larger confrontation that will make the path of diplomacy more difficult for the next US administration.”
Hosseini believes Israel will ultimately not gain anything by this assassination because Iran’s nuclear programme is no longer dependent on individuals, having a firm structure and a large number of young scientists in place.
“Netanyahu made Israel more unsafe with this assassination,” he said in reference to the Israeli prime minister.
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