Revolutionary Guard Colonel Killed, Iran Arrests Member Of Israeli Intelligence Network

Iranian military illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Reza Dehshiri)

JAKARTA - Iran's elite force, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that one of its officers, Colonel Sayad Khodai, was killed in a rare assassination in the capital Tehran, on Sunday.

Khodai was 'one of the defenders of the temple', the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, referring to military personnel or advisers who Iran says are fighting on its behalf, to protect Shia sites in Iraq or Syria from groups such as ISIS.

Two people on motorbikes opened fire on Khodai, Tasnim reported, citing informed sources, as reported by Reuters May 23.

Meanwhile, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported members of the Israeli intelligence service network had been found and arrested by the IRGC. The Israeli prime minister's office, which oversees the Mossad intelligence agency, declined to comment on events in Tehran.

"The mortal enemies of the holy system of the Islamic Republic of Iran have once again shown their evil nature, with the murder and martyrdom of one of the members of the IRGC forces," denounced Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh.

At least six Iranian scientists and academics have been killed or attacked since 2010, several of them by assailants riding motorbikes, in incidents believed to be targeting Iran's disputed nuclear program, which the West says is aimed at producing bombs.

Iran denies this, says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, and denounces the killing as an act of terrorism carried out by Western intelligence agencies and the Mossad. Israel has declined to comment on the allegations.

In April, Iran's intelligence ministry said it had arrested three Mossad spies in a statement published by the semi-official Fars news agency.

Iran has sent fighters to Syria since the early stages of the civil war to support its ally, President Bashar al-Assad, against Sunni rebels. The 'defenders of the temple' also include Afghan and Pakistani volunteers.