Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi praises Colonel Hassan Sayyad Khodaei as a martyr and blames the act on “global arrogance”, which is considered aimed at the United States and its allies, including Israel.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the killings, which were carried out by two unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle.
– I have no doubt that revenge will hit the criminals for this martyr’s blood, says President Ebrahim Raisi.
The colonel is the most high-profile person murdered in Iran since nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was shot dead in November 2020. That assassination accused Iran Israel of being behind it.
The Guard’s special force Quds is responsible for Iran’s operations abroad, for example in Syria and Lebanon, and according to Iranian news agencies, the colonel worked within Quds.
The United States has branded the Revolutionary Guards terrorist on the grounds that Iran is using force to commit and finance terrorist crimes abroad.