Israel has told the US that it killed a senior member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who was gunned down in Tehran on Sunday, The New York Times reported Wednesday, citing an unnamed intelligence official.
IRGC Col. Hassan Sayyad Khodaei was shot five times by two gunmen on motorcycles outside his home. Israel was immediately suspected due to its history of targeted killings inside Iran.
Israeli officials haven’t publicly said they were responsible for Khodaei’s killing. But Israel typically does not officially take credit for attacks inside Iran, and its responsibility is usually revealed by leaks to the media.
Israeli officials claimed to the Times that Khodaei was involved with plots to kidnap and assassinate Israeli civilians and officials around the world. They said he was part of a covert IRGC group known as Unit 840. But Iran denies that Unit 840 even exists, and despite frequent Israeli claims, there is no evidence that Iran has attempted to target Israelis abroad.
According to the Times report, Iranian analysts believe Israel’s claims of IRGC plots to assassinate civilians were likely meant to prevent the US from removing the IRGC’s terrorist designation, which was a major sticking point in talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA.
Khodaei’s killing came as negotiations between the US and Iran were stalled and was likely an effort to derail them for good. “These provocations are designed to pressure all sides to call off the nuclear deal or push Iran to react in a way that would be damaging. But Iran always takes the long-term calculative approach,” Gheis Ghoreishi, an analyst close to Iran’s government, told the Times.
Not long after Khodaei was killed, news broke that President Biden finalized his decision not to remove the IRGC from the terror list, which was conveyed to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. “I welcome the decision by the US Administration to keep Iran’s IRGC on the Foreign Terrorist Organizations list — which is where it belongs,” Bennett said.
Israel had previously launched attacks inside Iran aimed at sabotaging efforts to restore the JCPOA. In April 2021, Israel targeted Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility in an attack that came as the Biden administration began indirect talks with Iran aimed at reviving the JCPOA.
The previous known Israeli assassination inside Iran took place in November 2020, when Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed. Fakhrizadeh was targeted during the final months of the Trump administration, and the assassination was seen as a last-minute attempt to provoke a response from Iran while President Trump, a staunch Israel supporter, was still in office.
Traps being laid for the unwary everywhere … traps in Ukraine, traps in Taiwan, traps in Syria and Tehran … it will take epic patience and skill to unweave these and defang the warmongers.
Don’t worry Caliman. There is a new force come to sweep out the old & bring in the new. The old has exhausted itself chasing nomads in the sand to keep up with what is new and strong. What’s left is a mighty roar more groan than fierce and no one fears.
One commentor said that U.S. NATO set a bear trap in Ukraine but Russia is making them eat it.
He probably was setting up ops targeting legit Israeli target like personnel from the Israeli state and this will only strengthen Iranian resolve to hit back. The neophyte Trump isn’t there anymore and Biden will not go to war and no much how Israel tries counter actions r coming.
“Iran had previously launched attacks inside Iran aimed at sabotaging efforts to restore the JCPOA.”
Maybe fix that sooner than later.
Presumably true as far as it goes, though.
Not true at all…! It is true some hardliners oppose JCPOA, but there were not any attacks involved…!
Wonder why Zionist puppet Joe Biden who feigns as the president of a country called U S of A hasn’t come out with statement congratulating his master.
Bipartisan unanimous resolutions congratulations can be expected to be passed by the robots in both houses
“ there is no evidence that Iran has attempted to target Israelis abroad.”
The Argentine Israelite Mutual
Association a Jewish Community Centre was bombed in 1994, killing 85 people and injuring over 300. It is widely accepted that Hezbollah, which is controlled by Iran, was responsible.
Wow, you went to 1994 for evidence? Current members of these organizations were children back then. How about something a bit more present?
I didn’t read down far enough to see you already responded to the “1994” thing.
“Widely accepted” doesn’t even pass Wikipedia standards.
Widely accepted by whom…??????
On 25 October 2006, prosecutors in Buenos Aires formally charged Iran and Shi’a militia Hezbollah with the bombing, accusing the Iranian authorities of directing Hezbollah to carry out the attack and calling for the arrest of former President of Iran Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani and seven others
Why is it that you only show up here when Israhell is involved?
You’d be far more credible if you recognized that your precious Israhell is in a tie with Amerikkka as being the most vicious nations on planet earth.
Fortunately I do not seek validation from you Gypsy. Your support of authoritarian regimes pretty much says all I need to know about you.
Wrong-o! I support neither Amerikkka nor IsraHell!
And what have you to say about the latter executing a news reporter? One of your IDF soldiers said that she was “armed with a camera”——!!!!!!
Odele, like all authoritarians, doesn’t believe in free speech, nor trial by jury, only force.
Argenina, really. isn’t that where Hitler escaped to after the defeat of the nazis?
Really?
Odelle,
Are you Hasbara, or simply a Zionist propaganda true believer?
Don’t sweat it. You can tell us the truth. Those here at AW.C know what’s real. If you’re Hasbara, you are wasting your time here. If you’re simply misinformed, then stick around and we’ll straighten you out … if that’s at all possible.
Thanks Jeff. I hope you can keep an open mind as well.
Hmmm. Very civil. Perhaps there is hope for you yet.
?tongue in cheek?
Well, by the Zionazis, of course.
So look how far back you had to go to find ONE example!!!
False example. Plus, Hezbollah is not controlled by Iran. Allied with, yes, controlled, no.
But this sort of alienation from reality is the intended result of the current global “perception management” of the infostream.
On March 12, the conservative Iranian website Farda News published a full transcript of a speech delivered by Hezbollah Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, at a conference of Iranian nationals residing in Lebanon. In the speech, Nasrallah declared that his organization is wholly committed to the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and that the commitment to Khamenei trumps the organization’s commitment to the Lebanese constitution.
So how you can say that Hezbollah is not controlled by Itan is beyond me
“It is widely accepted that Hezbollah, which is controlled by Iran, was responsible.”
Whether Hezbollah is controlled by Iran doesn’t change the fact that “widely accepted” does not prove guilt. Widely accepted by whom?
And you have to go back 28 years. Is all the assassination Israel has done since then retribution?
it’s the 100-1 rule … we employ it too …
Israel and Saudi Arabia- the two biggest state sponsors of terrorism.
Pipsqueaks. USA number one. But they do come in at two and three.
Anything to avoid rapprochement between Iran and US
It seems like Israel does more terrorism than the next thirty countries combined and certainly more than IRAN… Didn’t they just assassinate a world renowned woman journalist by shooting her in the head which killed her instantly… in cold blood as she stood in a street talking with colleagues. I Think their Zionist sense of superiority and entitlement has turned them into MONSTERS….!!!!!!!!!! I am really getting tired of my hard earned tax money paying for their shabby acts and child murdering ways. How many children did they murder last month…??????
By orders of magnitude. The punishment? More $$$$ from we taxpayers.
Oh, PLEASE, AW, tell us something we DON’T know 🙄
The more precise word is murder, and that’s the one that should be used. Governments shouldn’t get different words for their criminal acts.
If Iran did that to Israeli contemporaries, the words would be “By God that is an Act of War”!!!!!!!
Be fun though if the ones responsible were arrested for murder instead. Imagine government officials being walked out in handcuffs and being led off to jail. Wars would be rare.
First Joe had to say they were “terrorists” before the little parasite came clean. All is well in their sick minds.
that was a close call though – he almost didn’t say it in time.
I (Israel) shot my neighbor because I thought he was going to kidnap or kill some of my out of town relatives. The judge (US) understood and set me free.
Minority Report of the states of the world.
I look forward to the day when Iran (or Syria) finally shoots back and takes out one of the top Israeli ba$tards. Time to teach them that war has its costs.
Testosterone poisoning + fascist bullying + assault weapons = dead people.
According to the recent aid to Ukraine legislation signed by President Joe Biden, 35% of the $40 billion is going to finance the US Armed Forces, he explained. Meanwhile, 45.2% of that amount is set to be spent on other countries, not Ukraine, while another 4.8% will be earmarked to support refugees, and restore the US diplomatic mission in Ukraine. “Ukraine will only receive 15% of the allotted sum,” the speaker revealed.
But Ukrainians will have to pay off the whole sum, he said. The US is aware that Kiev will not be able to service the debt in the future. “That is why they are seizing Ukraine’s last reserves, including grain, which is what we are seeing right now”.
America is a disgusting pile of corporate filth.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Grossi told the Davos Forum that 30 tons of plutonium and 40 tons of enriched uranium are stockpiled at the Ukrainian power plant in Zaporizhzhia.
On 19 February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, announced to NATO officials that his country was considering calling into question the Budapest Memorandum (1994) so that it could acquire nuclear weapons against Russia.
It was only 5 days later that Russia started its SMO in Ukraine. Nazis and nuclear weapons, what could possibly go wrong.