No Iran explosion....
Senior Iranian Officer Dies, Leaving Questions About His Death
The death of a senior Iranian military officer at his home in a Tehran suburb a week ago has fueled conflicting reports that he fell from a balcony, committed suicide or was killed.
The officer, Col. Ali Esmaelzadeh, died about a week after another high-ranking officer in the same unit, Col. Sayad Khodayee, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Tehran. Their deaths come amid a new wave of heightened tensions between Iran and Israel, which for years have conducted a clandestine war of sabotage and targeted killings.
Both officers were high-ranking members of an elite secret detachment of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Force, Unit 840, which Israeli officials say is tasked with killing foreigners abroad.
Iran blamed Israel for the killing of Colonel Khodayee, the deputy commander of the unit, and Israel told American officials that it was behind the killing, according to an intelligence official briefed on the communications.
But two senior Israeli defense officials said Friday that Israel did not kill Colonel Esmaelzadeh. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.
The death of Colonel Esmaelzadeh was first reported Thursday by the Saudi-financed, London-based Persian television channel Iran International. The report, citing anonymous sources in Iran, said that Revolutionary Guards officials suspected Colonel Esmaelzadeh of spying for Israel and staged his suicide. Source
Comments
Post a Comment