From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, May 24, 2022
Thousands at funeral for IRGC officer killed in suspected Israeli attack
Thousands of mourners have poured into the streets of Tehran on Tuesday to pay their respects to a senior Revolutionary Guard member fatally shot by two gunmen on a motorcycle earlier this week, punching the air with their fists and chanting “Death to Israel.”
The killing on Sunday of Col. Hassan Sayyad Khodaei bore the hallmarks of previous deadly shooting attacks in Iran blamed on Israel, such as those targeting the country’s nuclear scientists.
Funeral ceremony of the recently assassinated #IRGC member, colonel Sayyad Khodaei, was held today in #Iran's capital city Tehran. Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani also attended the ceremony. pic.twitter.com/4Q4tgTE8cP
— Abas Aslani (@AbasAslani) May 24, 2022
There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack. Iranian officials have blamed “global arrogance,” which is code for the United States and Israel, for Khodaei’s killing.
Mourners shout anti-US and anti-Israel slogans as the funeral procession snakes through the main Tehran cemetery. A prominent poster hails Khodaei as a martyr along with Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the top Iranian general killed in a US drone strike in 2020 in Iraq, and featured tattered Israeli, American and British flags.
“Iran is a victim of terrorism,” the banner declares, overlaid with the logos of the Mossad and Central Intelligence Agency.
Guard commander Gen. Hossein Salami as well as Gen. Esmail Ghaani, leader of Iran’s expeditionary Quds Force, attend the funeral.
