EU has condemned the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, an Iranian nuclear physicist and calls Tehran for calm after the country’s religious leader Ayetollah Ali Khamanei holds Israel responsible for the assassination.

Spokesperson of EU Commission Peter Stano said the assassination was a criminal act. It was against human rights principles, which is of utmost importance to the EU. Stano added that it was utterly crucial not to raise tensions and to act prudently at this stage.

High Representative of EU Foreign Relations, Josep Borrell also called for calm in his statement over the weekend. Borrell warned that it would be possible for nuclear negotiations to go off the rails if the tensions increase. “In these uncertain times, it is very important for everyone to remain calm and act in maximum sobriety. The other option would serve nobody’s interest.” Borrell added.

59 year old physicist Fakhrizadeh was assassinated by unknown people in his car last Friday. Fakhrizadeh was on US’s list of sanctioned Iranian individuals, and he was deemed in the past by Netanyahu as “the father of Iranian nuclear program”.