DUBAI (Archyde.com) – Iran held a funeral on Tuesday in downtown Tehran for Revolutionary Guards colonel Hassan Sayad Khodayi, who was shot dead by two assailants on a motorbike, and his commander vowed to avenge his death.
Pictures broadcast on state television showed crowds surrounding a truck carrying Khodayei’s coffin draped in the Iranian flag and surrounded by roses. Mourners carried pictures of Khodaye, who was killed in the open fire, in front of his home in central Tehran on Sunday.
“Iran’s response to any threat or move will be harsh,” Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami told reporters. But we will determine when and how the response will be and in what circumstances. We will surely take revenge on our enemies.”
Iran blames such attacks on Israel. Saeed Khatibzadeh, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said US support is making Israel bolder.
“There is no doubt that the covert and overt support … from the United States plays an important role in emboldening the occupation regime,” he told state media, referring to Israel.
In a separate report, state television said that the Revolutionary Guards had arrested members of a network of “outlaws” recruited by Israeli intelligence to carry out sabotage and attacks in Iran.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office, which oversees the Mossad intelligence agency, declined to comment on the events in Tehran.
Israeli media said that Khodaye was leading a unit of the Quds Force, which carries out operations abroad for the Revolutionary Guards, whose mission is to plan attacks on Israelis abroad.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency on Sunday quoted the Revolutionary Guards as saying that Khodaye was “one of the defenders of the holy shrines,” a reference to military personnel and advisors that Iran says are fighting on its behalf to protect Shiite sites in Iraq and Syria from groups such as Islamic State.
Those forces played a key role in supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Tehran.
The assassination came at a time of uncertainty over efforts to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, after months of stalled talks.
At least six Iranian scientists and academics have been killed or attacked since 2010, some of which were carried out by attackers on motorbikes. It is believed that these operations target Iran’s nuclear program, which the West says is aimed at producing a bomb.
Iran denies this, saying its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Tehran condemns the killing of its scholars, describing it as terrorist acts carried out by Western intelligence agencies and the Mossad. Israel is reluctant to comment on such accusations.