Iran Will Avenge Assassination of Revolutionary Guard Colonel, Raisi Threatens

Iran will avenge the assassination of a senior member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the Islamic Republic’s President Ebrahim Raisi warned on Monday. The warning came a day after Col. Hassan Sayad Khodayari was shot five times while sitting in his car on the street outside of his home in Tehran by two people on motorcycles. Raisi added that: “There is no doubt that the hand of global arrogance can be seen in this crime,” using language that is often meant to refer to Israel and the United States, according to reports.  No group has yet publicly taken responsibility for the attack. Khodayari, who is reported to have planned attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets throughout the world including at least two very recent plots, has been called in Iranian reports a “defender of the sanctuary,” which is a term for Iranians who carry out operations in Syria and Iraq on behalf of the IRGC’s Quds Force. Iran’s state television reported that security forces were on a manhunt for the assailants. The funeral is scheduled for 5 p.m. in Iran.