Mon 23 May 2022:
President Ebrahim Raisi warned on Monday that Iran would avenge the killing of a Revolutionary Guards colonel in Tehran.
Colonel Sayyad Khodai was killed by assailants on motorcycles outside his home on Sunday, in a killing Iran blamed on “elements linked to global arrogance,” its phrase for the US and its allies, including Israel.
It was the most high-profile death in Iran since the assassination of prominent nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in November 2020.
Khodai was killed by five bullets when he returned home about 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, according to the official news agency IRNA (1130 GMT).
The agency published pictures showing a man slumped over in the driver’s seat of a white car, with blood around the collar of his blue shirt and on his right arm. He was strapped in with his seat belt, and the front window on the passenger side had been shot out.
Raisi said: “I insist on the serious pursuit (of the killers) by security officials, and I have no doubt that the blood of this great martyr will be avenged.
“There is no doubt that the hand of global arrogance can be seen in this crime,” he added, echoing what the Guards said the previous day.
He was speaking just ahead of visiting Oman, where he will meet with Sultan Haitham.
Khodai was described as a “defender of the sanctuary” — a term used to describe anyone who works on behalf of the Islamic republic in Syria or Iraq.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the ideological arm of Iran’s military, identified Khodai as a colonel.
Khodai’s funeral was due to take place in Tehran at 5:00 pm local time (1230 GMT).
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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