Iran's Revolutionary Guards accused "Zionists" of assassinating their colonel in Tehran over a week ago, AFP reported. The accusation comes a few days after Israel told the US it was behind the attack.
Colonel Sayyad Khodai, 50, was fatally shot on 22 May outside his home by assailants on motorcycles. He was struck by five bullets, Iranian media outlets had reported.
Colonel Khodai was killed "by the most vicious people, the Zionists, and God willing, we will avenge his death", head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Major General Hossein Salami said, while visiting the deceased's family.
"The enemy pursued him (the colonel) from the heart of the White House and Tel Aviv for months and years, door to door and alley to alley to martyr him," Salami was quoted as saying by AFP.
The assassination was the most high-profile one inside the country since November 2020 when nuclear scientist. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was allegedly killed by Israel.
The colonel's killing comes in the backdrop of negotiations between Iran and world powers to restore the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The talks have been stalled since March.
Iran, led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wants its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to be removed from a US terrorism blacklist, a demand that US President Joe Biden refuses to give into.
Israel is categorically against the deal. You can read more about it here.
(With inputs from AFP)
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