‘Inevitable revenge’: Iran threatens Israel after assassination of Qods force officer in Tehran
Iran has issued threats against Israel in several channels following the assassination of senior Qods Force officer Hassan Sayyad Khodayari in the heart of Tehran on Sunday, believed to be the work of Israeli agents.
Khodayari was shot five times while sitting in a car in front of his house in Tehran. The assailants fled on a motorcycle and are still at large.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Public Relations later claimed that “members of a gang of hooligans linked to the intelligence agency of the Zionist regime have been arrested in Iran.”
Qods Force is responsible for the IRGC’s sabotage, terrorism, and other operations in foreign countries, and Khodayari served in Syria in past years.
According to a report in the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Qabas, Khodayari served as one of General Qassem Suleimani’s aides.
Israeli media reported that Khodayari commanded terrorist squads whose purpose was to carry out the murder and abduction of Israelis abroad, which were thwarted by the Mossad.
The Iranian National Security Council stated that “the act of terrorism and the martyrdom of the Revolutionary Guards Colonel is crossing the Red Line. The perpetrators of this crime will pay a heavy price.”
A senior Iranian official is quoted by Al-Jazeera as saying that the assassination “will lead to significant changes in the equation of the conflict (with Israel) and that the elements behind the assassination will pay heavy prices.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that Iranian security officials will pursue the assassinators and he has no doubt “that revenge against the criminals is inevitable.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh stated Monday that “the sworn enemies of the sacred establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran once again revealed their evil nature through the assassination and martyrdom of an IRGC member.”
“This inhuman crime is committed by the terrorist agents that are affiliated with the global arrogance while those countries that claim to be fighting terrorism are regrettably silent and support it,” he added.
“The global arrogance” is an Iranian term used to describe the US.
Israeli analyst Yoni Ben Menachem, of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), noted that “Israel is refraining from attacking the Iranian nuclear program at the request of the Americans so as not to sabotage the nuclear talks in Vienna.”
However, Sunday’s assassination is an “important” operation that “saved the lives of Israelis and Jews and a great success of the Mossad.”
Israel has previously been implicated in assassinating key Iranian figures, and Sunday’s operation was reminiscent of the assassination of lead Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in November 2020.
