Iran said it would not retaliate for the "ugly phenomenon" but would seek more international support against such killings

Blaming Israel for assassinating its nuclear scientists, Iran said Tuesday it would not retaliate for the "ugly phenomenon" but would seek more international support against such killings.

Arguing this case Tuesday to reporters at an event featuring family members of the assassinated victims, Iranian IAEA envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh said his country would not retaliate against the "ugly phenomenon of assassinating ... nuclear scientists to stop Iran's nuclear progress."

Instead, he said, Tehran will push for greater international condemnation of such practices, adding he is "very sure about the support of almost all member states" of the 151-nation IAEA.

Mansoureh Karami, the widow of assassinated scientist Masoud Ali Mohammadi, blamed the "Zionist regime" for the killings. In an indirect poke at the United States and its allies, she said nations who "falsely claim human rights share these crimes."

The Iranian delegation also showed a film featuring Majid Jamali Fashi – who Iran says is the killer of one of the scientists – asserting that he was recruited by the Zionist entity.