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Ebrahim Raisi before a trip to Oman
Photo: Vahid Salemi/AP
After the killing of a member of the Revolutionary Guards in Tehran (IRGC), Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi has announced retaliation.
"We will definitely avenge the blood of this martyr," Raisi said before a trip to Oman, according to the Isna news agency.
Raisi suspects "imperialist powers", namely Israel and the USA, were behind the assassination.
Colonel Hassan Sajad Chodai was shot dead by unknown assailants on Sunday in a district in the south-east of the capital Tehran.
The assassins are said to have fired five shots and fled on a motorcycle, the state news agency Irna reported.
The alleged perpetrators have not yet been caught.
The background to the crime is unclear.
Khodai as "Defender of the Sanctuary"
Khodai was reportedly a member of the Quds Forces, which are also active in Syria, among other places.
It was initially unclear what role he played in the Revolutionary Guards.
He is said to have been a "defender of the shrine" - a term used, among other things, for members of the armed forces and elite units who protect Shiite shrines abroad from attack.
The colonel was shot dead in his small car and reportedly had no bodyguards - senior members of the Revolutionary Guard are usually better protected and also travel in armored vehicles.
According to Tehran, the Quds Brigades act abroad as "military advisers" at the request of the respective governments.
Therefore, the Iranian government always rejects any interference in neighboring countries.
Israel has been considered Iran's archenemy since the Islamic revolution of 1979.
Again and again there are reports of the arrests, arrests and executions of alleged agents who are accused of cooperation with the Mossad or the US foreign intelligence service CIA.
As a rule, the Iranian information cannot be independently verified.
bam/dpa
