Iran Revolutionary Guards member assassinated in Tehran: state media

Gunmen killed a member of Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards on Sunday,  in Tehran’s east, according to state news agency IRNA.

According to IRNA, “Sayyad Khodai… was assassinated during a gun attack carried out by two motorcyclists in Tehran’s Mohahedin-e Eslam Street.”

The agency referred to him as a “defender of the sanctuary,” a term used to describe anyone working for the Islamic Republic of Syria or Iraq.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the ideological arm of Iran’s military, identified Khodai as a colonel.

In a statement posted on their website, the Guards also denounced a “terrorist act” they claimed was carried out by “elements linked to global arrogance” — a reference to the United States and its allies.

The Guards said they launched an investigation to identify the “aggressor or aggressors”.

According to IRNA, Khodai was killed by five bullets as he returned home at around 4:00 pm (1130 GMT).

The agency released images of a man slumped over in the driver’s seat of a car, with blood around his blue shirt collar and on his right upper arm.

He is restrained by his seat belt, and the passenger side front window has been shot out.