Reports claiming that a commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had been killed in western Iraq in a drone strike are most likely untrue, Spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Said Khatib Zadeh said on Tuesday.
“Apparently, this is untrue, but a representative of the General Staff of the Iranian armed forces should speak on this issue. However, we have not heard any reliable information on this matter”, Zadeh said at a press briefing.
Tasnim news agency earlier cited informed sources as denying the reports that an airstrike by a drone had killed a commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in western Iraq on the border with Syria.
Al Arabiya reported on Monday, citing Iraqi sources that Muslim Shahdan’s car was targeted on Sunday evening after passing the Al Qa’im checkpoint in Iraq’s Al Anbar Province. Three people who accompanied the IRGC commander also reportedly died in the drone attack.
The Iranian media outlet cited its sources as saying that such information reports have been spread amid the recent assassination of Iranian nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in order to influence public opinion in Iran.
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the head of the Iranian Defence Ministry’s innovation centre, was killed in an attack near the northern Iranian town of Absard on Friday, reportedly by a remote-controlled machine gun after leaving his armoured car. The assassination came two days before the 10th anniversary of the death of another Iranian nuclear physicist, Majid Shahriari. Tehran said there were signs of Israel’s involvement.
Source: Sputnik
