I read the article very carefully and never saw the word ‘assassination’ used.
What are you referring to?
“Economic sanctions against Iran are having an effect, experts who spoke with The Epoch Times agreed. Yet views diverged on the nature of the impact and on how big of a role sanctions have played in the Islamic regime’s reluctance to escalate after the assassination of a top general.”
It is in the first paragraph. Sometimes it is easiest to do a search using "ctrl F" or the like if you are looking for a specific word.