Tehran -
The assassination of an officer in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Colonel Hassan Sayyad Khodayi, in front of his house in the center of the capital, Tehran, on Sunday, brought to mind similar operations that resulted in the killing of nuclear scientists and other engineers who had a prominent imprint in developing the missile program for their country, and Tehran pointed the finger at all these assassinations. to Israel.
The recent assassination was completely different from the method used to assassinate former scientists, which usually takes place by planting explosives in their cars, or by shooting from passing cars.
Sayad Khadayi - who previously participated in the war in Syria - was shot by two gunmen riding a motorcycle who fired 5 bullets at him and fled, which led to his death instantly.
With the recurrence of assassinations on Iranian soil, and Tehran pointing fingers at its sworn enemy, Israel, Al-Jazeera Net asked former leaders and personalities close to the Revolutionary Guards, seeking an explanation for Iran's failure to respond in kind to the assassination of its leaders, and to suffice with naval or cyber attacks on Israeli sites and networks.
Colonel of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Sayad Khodayi, who Iran accused Israel of being behind his assassination (social networking sites)
Iran has always accused Israel of being behind the assassination of its leaders. Why is there no similar Iranian response to these operations?
An unofficial Iranian source close to the Quds Force revealed that the Revolutionary Guard forces and the Iranian security services had previously responded more than once by targeting a number of Israeli leaders inside and outside the occupied Palestinian territories.
However, the informed source - who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons - said that despite Tehran's unwillingness to open security files with independent countries, and had previously struck Israeli interests on its territory, yesterday's operation was a quantum leap in bringing the conflict out of the shadows into the open. This will make the Iranian response clear after today.
What operations targeted Israelis that Iran did not officially adopt?
The source close to the Quds Force enumerated the direct Iranian operations against Israeli leaders, and said that they have claimed the lives of more than 20 people so far, including, according to his statement:
On December 4, 2020, an officer in the Israeli Mossad called Fahim Hinawi, 45, was assassinated at an intersection in the Ginaton area, southeast of Tel Aviv.
The operation took place only 7 days after the assassination of the Iranian scientist, Mohsen Fakhri Zadeh, by firing more than 15 bullets at his car.
During the past year, Iran liquidated two other officers - other than Hinawi - inside Tel Aviv in response to the assassination of Fakhri Zadeh.
The assassination of the commander of the Nahal Brigade in the Israeli army, General Sharon Assman (42 years old), on January 1, 2021, in a military base in the city of Netanya, central occupied Palestine.
Gabriel Talker, a senior officer in the Israeli Mossad - at the level of deputy minister - was killed, along with 12 other people, on March 13, as a result of the Iranian missile strike on a Mossad headquarters in Erbil, Iraq.
And, "We have documented reports of the injury and death of a number of Israeli elements in this attack, including: Mattis Datrice, Ismit, Adam Butler, Shaul, Melissa Robert and his pseudonym Avins, Johnny, Jones, Gabriel Talker, and Mark Zal."
Iran is not afraid to announce that it is behind many operations targeting the security situation within the "Zionist entity".
There are other operations targeting Israeli elements in independent countries, which Iran has not and will not adopt, but the leaders of the "entity" know very well that it is behind them.
Why does Iran not officially adopt its operations against the Israeli elements?
The former leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Hussein Kanaani Moghadam, believes that Iran adopts all operations targeting the Zionist entity, and it is the only country that clearly declares that it is working to eliminate the occupying entity, adding that Tehran is in a state of open war with Israel and does not want to narrow the circle of conflict. Operations here and there.
He indicated - in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net - that the "Israeli entity" adopts the strategy of "killing with a thousand wounds" to confront Iran.
And that the assassinations inside Iran and the attacks on the targets of the resistance axis in Syria and Lebanon fall within this framework, stressing that Tehran is adopting a strategy to prepare for the battle to liberate Jerusalem.
Kanaani Moghaddam stressed that "the enemy's operations in the Iranian depths - whether assassinations or sabotage operations against nuclear facilities - come to lure Tehran into an all-out war by confronting the United States and its allies on the side of the Israeli enemy."
This is what Tehran is aware of its dangers, but it will continue its operations to deter the occupation without adopting them, unless the operations are on the territory of a third country, as happened in the Erbil attack.
Kanaani Moghaddam says that Iran has responded directly and indirectly to the targeting of its leaders (Al-Jazeera)
How does Tehran respond to the Israeli operations that target its leaders and interests on Iranian soil?
The former leader of the Revolutionary Guard believes that his country has never turned a blind eye to the Israeli operations, and that it responded directly or indirectly through the resistance movements allied with it, whether through the Syrian Golan front, southern Lebanon, or from within the Palestinian territories.
Kanani Moghadam added that one of the aspects of Iranian retaliation in response to the Israeli operations "is to supply allied anti-Zionist and American movements with weapons and military technology, especially drones and guided and accurate missiles, which have become disturbing the occupation entity and warn of its imminent demise."
Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi vowed revenge after the killing of Officer Khodayi (Al-Jazeera)
How was the assassination of officer Hassan Sayad Khodayi on Iran, and how will the Revolutionary Guards avenge him?
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard was the first to announce the targeting of its personnel in an operation it described as terrorist and behind which "parties affiliated with global arrogance" stand, according to Moqaddam, while the Iranian Foreign Ministry stressed that the assassination of Colonel Khodayi would not prevent Iran from achieving its goals.
And after Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi described - before leaving Tehran on Monday morning for Muscat - that "revenge for the blood of Khodayi will surely be within reach", the Iranian Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs, Majid Mirahmadi, accused Israel of committing this crime, and threatened Tel Aviv to receive a harsh slap from Iran will make the criminals regret their actions, as he put it.
For his part, the former leader of the Revolutionary Guards and advisor to the presidency of the Iranian parliament, Mansour Haqiqatpour, revealed that his country had prepared a bank of goals from American and Israeli interests to respond to any "adventure", suggesting that his country not bury its dead before taking revenge on them from the killers.
Haqiqat Pour expected - in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net - that the response to the assassination of the officer in the Revolutionary Guards would be soon and in the size of the crime, stressing that the arrow of revenge had already come out of the bow.