Iran accuses the "Zionists" of assassinating the deputy commander of "Unit 840", Sayyad Khudaei

On Monday, an Iranian military commander accused what he called "Zionists" of being behind the assassination of Revolutionary Guards Colonel Sayyad Khodaei, days after US press reports about Israel's involvement in the operation.

The 50-year-old officer was killed when two armed men on motorbikes shot him while he was in his car near his home in eastern Tehran on May 22, according to official media.

The New York Times reported that Israel, the sworn regional enemy of the Islamic Republic, informed the United States that it was behind the attack.

On the sidelines of his visit to the family of the late officer on Sunday, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Major General Hossein Salami, said that Sayyad Khudaei was killed “at the hands of the most wretched of wretched people, that is, the Zionists, and God willing, we will avenge the blood of the martyr,” according to what was reported on the official website of the guard, “Sepah News.” Monday.

Salami did not use the phrase "the Zionist regime" adopted in the official discourse of the Islamic Republic to refer directly to Israel, which Iran had previously accused of being behind the attacks and assassinations that took place on its soil.

In its obituary statement issued shortly after the killing of Sayyad Khudaei, the Guard held the responsibility for his assassination of elements linked to "global arrogance", the phrase used to refer to the United States, the archenemy of Iran, and its allies.

After visiting the family of the late officer, Salami confirmed that "the enemy, from the heart of the White House and Tel Aviv, tracked the martyr for months and years from house to house and from alley to alley until he was able to kill him."

"The enemy considers his martyrdom a victory, and this indicates the greatness of the martyr."

And "The New York Times" reported that Israel had informed the United States that it was behind the assassination of Khodaei.

The newspaper, quoting an unidentified intelligence official, said that the Israelis told the Americans that the assassination was a warning to Iran to stop the operations of a secret unit within the Quds Force known as Unit 840.

According to the American newspaper, the secret unit of the Quds Force, responsible for foreign operations of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, is charged with kidnapping and assassination of foreigners around the world, including civilians and Israeli officials, according to the Israeli government and military and intelligence officials.

Israeli officials said Colonel Khadaei was the deputy commander of Unit 840 and was involved in planning off-border plots against foreigners, including Israelis.

Iranian state television confirmed that Khodaei was a cadre of the Quds Force entrusted with foreign operations in the Guard, and he was born in 1972 in East Azerbaijan Province, northwest of Iran.

He explained that he was "known" in Syria.

In the obituary statement, the Revolutionary Guards confirmed that Sayyad Khudaei was one of the "defenders of the holy shrines (defenders of the sanctuary)," which is the phrase used to refer to its members who performed tasks in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

Tehran confirms the presence of members of its armed forces in an advisory capacity in Iraq to confront the "takfiri" elements, especially the Islamic State, and in Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the conflict in his country since 2011.

Thousands participated in his funeral, which was held last Tuesday in Tehran.

President Ebrahim Raisi had confirmed the inevitability of revenge for the assassination, which is the most prominent declared targeting of an Iranian figure on the territory of the Islamic Republic since 2020, when the nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed by bullets targeting his convoy near Tehran.

At the time, Iran directly accused Israel of being involved in the operation.

Days after the assassination of Sayyad Khodaei, the Iranian Ministry of Defense announced, on Thursday, the killing of an engineer and the injury of another as a result of an “accident” that occurred the day before in its research unit in the Parchin area, southeast of Tehran, which includes a military complex suspected of having witnessed bombing tests on connection with the nuclear file.

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news