The United States has been informed by Israel that they carried out the assassination of an Iranian Revolutionary Guards colonel as reported lately. Colonel Sayyad Khodai was killed by a gunman on the back of a motorcycle in Tehran. Iran’s President has promised to retaliate and the New York Times reported that Israel claimed responsibility for the killing. The source also mentioned that Israel aimed to send a warning to Iran regarding the activities of a covert group within the Quds Force.
According to the Times, Israeli officials asserted that the assassination was meant to thwart the activities of a shadowy division within the IRGC’s Quds Force, overseeing operations in the Middle East and involvement in terror attacks. Khodai was involved in the transportation of drone and missile technology to Iran-backed militias in Syria and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon, also providing tactical advice to the militias. Israeli intelligence and military officials hinted that the plan to target Khodai may have been in motion since July 2021 when an Iranian named Mansour Rasouli, recruited as a hitman by the IRGC, was abducted by Mossad.
Thousands attended Khodai’s funeral in Tehran, with funeral prayers led by the capital’s top imam and Khodai’s coffin draped in the Iranian flag. The killing of Khodai has come at a time when negotiations between Iran and world powers to restore the nuclear deal have been stalled since March.