Iranian President Vows Revenge Over Killing Of Guard Member In Tehran

Iran’s hardline president vowed to take revenge over the death of a senior Revolutionary Guard member in the heart of Tehran, a day before a mysterious attack on the country’s powerful paramilitary force.

President Ibrahim Raisi on Monday, honored late Colonel Hassan Sayyid Khodai as a martyr and blamed the “hands of global arrogance” for his assassination, concerning the United States and its allies including Israel.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the killing on Sunday afternoon by two unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle. Khodai was shot five times in a car, an unarmed budget SAIPA pride – among the cheapest, most common Iranian vehicles.

But the brazen attack style identified previous killings in Iran as those targeting Israel, such as those targeting the country’s nuclear scientists.

“I have no doubt that the perpetrators are assured of revenge for the blood of this martyr,” Raisi said before leaving Tehran for a state visit to the Sultanate of Oman, a strategic Gulf Arab state that traditionally mediates between Tehran and the West.

His remarks suggested the power and prominence of the Khodai in the murky structure of the Guard, which through allied militias wields extensive control in Iran and the Middle East.

The guards identified Khodai as “temple keeper”, a reference to the Iranians who fight in Syria and Iraq against the extremist Islamic State group within the elite Quds force that oversees operations overseas.

While Iran has yet to provide any definitive biographical information on Khodai, Israeli media ran accompanying stories on Sunday night alleging that Khodai conspired against Israeli diplomats, businessmen, and other foreign officials abroad.

News reports, all of which went without charge, suggest that Israeli intelligence officials briefed journalists on the Iranian colonel. There has been no official comment from the Israeli government.

Iran has accused Israel of killing similar motorcycles targeting Iranian nuclear scientists a decade ago. In the past year, Iran specifically blamed Israel for the high-tech killing that targeted Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the country’s leading nuclear scientist, who masterminded the Islamic Republic’s disbanded military nuclear program. A remote-controlled machine gun killed him on a country road.

The killing of Khodai is a difficult time for the country. Talks with the Biden administration aimed at restoring the broken nuclear deal remain stalemate, apparently over whether to lift the US terrorism designation on guard. The EU envoy for nuclear talks visited Tehran earlier this month in the hope that a deal was reached, apparently with no result.

Backed by Israel, former President Donald Trump withdrew the US from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018 and reimposed sanctions.

Iran’s economic mismanagement as well as the tightness of US sanctions has led to rising inflation, high youth unemployment, and rising poverty. Raisey’s administration has struggled to stop the tailspin.

With mounting pressure in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine and disruptions in global supply chains, the Iranian government last month reduced subsidies for imported wheat and raised prices for other food staples by up to 300%.

The move deepened economic despair and public anger, leading to sporadic protests against the government in several provinces.

As the Iranian currency, the rial, shrinks in value and people see their incomes shrink with rising prices, strikes over wage disputes between bus drivers and teachers have also gained traction across the country. With security forces trying to crack down on arrests and officials trying to play down the unrest, Raisi said over the weekend that ‘tough decisions’ need to be made even if people disagree.

The Sultanate of Oman, where US and Iranian diplomats quietly drafted Tehran’s nuclear deal – signed in 2015 by Iran and six world powers – gave Raisi a royal welcome as it touched down in Muscat on Monday. He was expected to meet with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said to foster ties with the neutral country, known for deftly navigating the region’s political and sectarian conflicts.