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Iran's state TV is reporting that a senior member of the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard has been killed outside his home in Tehran by gunmen on a motorbike

ByThe Associated Press

May 22, 2022, 6:45 PM

2 min read

TEHRAN, Iran -- A senior member of Irans powerful Revolutionary Guard was killed outside his home in Tehran on Sunday by unidentified gunmen on a motorbike, state TV reported.

Although the Guard gave only scant detail about the attack that occurred in broad daylight in the heart of Iran's capital, the group blamed the killing on global arrogance, typically code for the United States and Israel.

That accusation, as well as the style of the brazen killing, raised the possibility of a link with other motorbike slayings previously attributed to Israel in Iran, such as those targeting the country's nuclear scientists. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The two assailants shot Col. Hassan Sayyad Khodaei five times in his unarmored Iranian-made Kia Pride, state media said, right off a highly secure street home to Iran's parliament.

Reports identified Khodaei only as a defender of the shrine, a reference to Iranians who fight against the extremist Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq within the Guards elite Quds force that oversees foreign operations.

Little information was publicly available about Khodaei, as Quds officers tend to be shadowy figures carrying out secretive military missions supporting Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, and other militias in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere.

The Tehran prosecutor arrived at the crime scene within hours of the killing to investigate and demanded police urgently arrest the perpetrators. The probes speed suggested Khodaei's prominence in the murky structure of the Guards overseas operations.

Those operations have come under repeated Israeli air attack in Syria. An Israeli strike near the Syrian capital of Damascus killed two Guard members in March, prompting Iran to retaliate by firing a missile barrage into northern Iraq.

Security forces were pursuing the suspected assailants, state TV reported, without offering further details or giving a motive for the killing.

Around the same time, state-run media said the Revolutionary Guard's security forces had uncovered and arrested members of an Israeli intelligence network operating in the country, without elaborating on whether they had any connection to Khodaei's slaying.

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Iran Revolutionary Guard colonel is shot dead in Tehran

Unidentified gunmen on a motorbike have killed a senior member of Irans powerful Revolutionary Guard outside his home in Tehran.

The corps gave only scant detail about the killing, which occurred in broad daylight in the heart of the Iranian capital, but blamed it on global arrogance typically code for the US and Israel.

The accusation and the style of the attack raised the possibility of a link with other motorbike killings previously attributed to Israel, such as those targeting the countrys nuclear scientists.

Two assailants shot Col Hassan Sayad Khodayari five times in his unarmoured Iranian-made vehicle just off a highly secure street that is home to Irans parliament, state media said.

Reports identified Khodayari only as a defender of the shrine, a reference to fighters against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq from the Revolutionary Guards elite Quds force that oversees foreign operations.

Little information was publicly available about Khodayari, but Quds officers tend to carry out secretive military missions supporting Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group and political party, and militias in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere.

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The Tehran prosecutor arrived at the crime scene within hours to investigate and demanded police urgently arrest the perpetrators. The speed of the developments suggests Khodayari may have been a prominent Quds figure.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. State TV reported that security forces were pursuing the suspected assailants without offering further details or giving a motive for the killing.

State-run media also said around the same time that the Revolutionary Guards security forces had uncovered and arrested members of an Israeli intelligence network operating in the country.

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It could be make or break time for the Iran nuclear deal.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was the Obama administrations top foreign policy achievement. It led to dramatic reductions in Irans ability to enrich uranium in return for the U.S. and its allies lifting nuclear-related sanctions that were crippling Irans economy.

Under Trump, the U.S. designated an elite Iranian military unit as a foreign terrorist organization. That led to extreme sanctions against individuals and agencies connected to this group.

Former President Donald Trump abrogated the agreement just over four years ago. The Biden administrations talks with Iran to revive the deal have since progressed impressively, but now they have stalled again.

The problem lies with one of the many new sanctions Trump imposed against Iran during his last days in office that have nothing to do with Irans nuclear program or the JCPOA.

Under Trump, the U.S. designated an elite Iranian military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as a foreign terrorist organization. That led to extreme sanctions against individuals and agencies connected to this group.

The designation was explicitly designed by Trump to serve as a poison pill that would make it politically much harder for the U.S. to rejoin the deal, since it would require lifting sanctions against a so-called terrorist organization.

Unfortunately, the ploy seems to have worked.

The Senate recently approved a nonbinding GOP-backed measure pressuring the Biden administration not to de-list the Revolutionary Guard, even though getting back to the agreement will be almost impossible without delisting. Diplomats on all sides are working to overcome this obstacle, but time is running short.

Trumps blatantly political move has made the United States, the region and the world less safe.

During the period that the JCPOA was in effect, all sides agreed that Iran was in full compliance with its requirements. But still it faced devastating new sanctions from the Trump administration.

While Iran has gradually enriched uranium to higher levels since Trump abrogated the deal, it has made no attempt to acquire nuclear weapons. Returning to the JCPOA is the best way to prevent this from happening.

Israel is the regions only current nuclear weapons state. But others including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Turkey (which already has U.S. nuclear weapons on its soil as part of NATOs nuclear sharing) could end up joining the nuclear club if Iran does.

To repeat, Iran has, to date, not moved toward acquiring nuclear weapons. But its people continue to endure punishing economic sanctions, with the poorest and most vulnerable always the hardest hit.

A renewed JCPOA provides a way to avoid the threat of war initiated by one of Irans regional rivals, or even the United States that would arise should Iran at some point move toward nuclear capability. It might also serve as the basis for future negotiations with Iran on broader military and regional issues, and even set the stage for beginning negotiations towards global nuclear disarmament.

Negotiations over restoring the JCPOA are ongoing, and a resolution could come soon. A separate agreement between Iran and the UN's nuclear watchdog agency, allowing UN inspection of Irans nuclear sites, is scheduled to expire around June 6. That gives sharp urgency to getting the U.S. team to the table.

Theres still time to undo Trumps reckless abandonment of diplomacy. The last thing the world needs is another regional arms race, or another war.

This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, which is run by The Progressive magazine and distributed by Tribune News Service.

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DUBAI, May 23 (Reuters) - Iran and Oman have agreed to form a committee to jointly develop the Hengam oilfield, which straddles both countries' sea border, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported its oil minister Javad Owji as saying on Monday.

In 2005, both countries signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop the Hengam oil field but the agreement did not materialise and Iran decided to develop the field independently in 2012.

"As the first basis of my talks with Omani Oil Minister Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Rumhi, it was agreed to form a joint technical committee to develop the next phases of the Hengam oil field in a seamless manner between Iran and Oman," Owji said.

"Joint exploitation, in contrast to competitive exploitation, will be mutually beneficial to both countries as this method leads to less damage to the reservoir and allows for more extraction," the oil minister added.

Last week, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported that Owji had agreed to revive a long-stalled project to lay an undersea pipeline to carry gas to Oman. read more

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Iran and Oman agree to jointly develop shared oilfield, Fars reports - Reuters

Tajikistan and Iran share common borders in a difficult neighbourhood and both countries have Persian-majorities. Here is what experts say more about their military cooperation.

Irans move to produce drones for Tajikistan, a Central Asian state having strong cultural and ethnic connections with Tehran, marks a crucial milestone for the Shia-majority country.

While Iran produces drones for its national defence, its drone factory in Tajikistan will be its first offshore arms production facility.

This is the first time that Iran has started mass production of military equipment abroad. This is the first time that the Islamic Republic is transferring production line know-how by officially inaugurating a manufacturing factory in Tajikistan, says Hosein Dalirian, a Tehran-based Iranian journalist. Irans drones, named Ababil-2, will be multi-role tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, he says.

The inauguration of the drone factory on Tuesday is proof that Iran is seeking to reinforce its friendly relations across the region, empowering its allies and securing their interests alongside its own interests, according to Dalirian. Certainly, Tajikistan is a brotherly and friendly country to Iran, Dalirian tells TRT World.

According to Irans official IRNA news agency, Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, the head of Irans armed forces, was in Tajikistan during the official ceremony for the drone factorys inauguration.

We are in a position to, apart from meeting our domestic need, export military equipment to allied and friendly countries to help increase security and sustainable peace,Bagherisaid at the opening ceremony.

Ulas Pehlivan, a security analyst and a former Turkish military officer, sees other political motives in the two neighbouring countries military cooperation. Enduring US sanctions force Iran to enlarge its own sphere of influence in the region, Pehlivan tells TRT World.

Overlapping interests

Tajikistan and Iran have many commonalities. Their populations largely speak the Persian language and both states are wary of the Taliban rule in Afghanistan for their own reasons. In recent years, Iran and Tajikistan, which gained independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, have gotten closer, particularly due to the turbulent Afghan politics.

Unlike the Sunni-dominated Taliban, Iran is a Shia-majority country and is angry about attacks on Afghanistan's Shia minority, Hazaras. On the other hand, Tajikistan has a secular rule, which is a stark difference to the Taliban's religious-minded governance.

Like Iran, Tajikistan also has a lot of concerns about the Pashtun-dominated Taliban rule in a country where the Tajiks are the second biggest ethnicity. Iran has also long backed Afghanistans Tajiks to create an "eastern Iranian arc", which would also include Tajikistan itself, according to Kirill Semenov,a Russian expert.

Iran sees Tajikistan not only as a springboard to further its military, political and economic interests in Central Asia but also as an opportunity to demonstrate its cultural and spiritual potential, Semenov wrote.

Tajikistan also needs Iran for various reasons.

Dushanbe needs to improve its defence capabilities against possible threats from Afghanistan. Also Tajikistan needs to secure its border with both Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan where clashes and illegal crossings continue, says Pehlivan, referring to why Tajikistan needs Iranian drones.

But there is more to Dushanbes rapprochement with Tehran. Landlocked Tajikistans international trade also needs to have access to the high seas through Iran. And Iran seeks to overcome its Saudi competitors in Tajikistan, Pehlivan says.

Iran and Tajikistan are seeking to promote and develop joint defence and military cooperation and this will certainly strengthen Dushanbe in the arms sphere given Irans advanced military capabilities, says Dalirian, the Iranian journalist. The Tajik president previously confirmed the countrys plans to strengthen ties with Iran, the journalist adds.

Are Iranian drones up to the job?

While Dalirian believes Iranian drone technology is developing rapidly, Pehlivan is not sure that Tehrans drones have reached a level Turkish drones currently enjoy in a proven efficiency across different battlefields from Azerbaijans Karabakh, a disputed region between Yerevan and Baku, to Libyas capital Tripoli.

Irans move to open a drone manufacturing factory in Tajikistan highlights the fact that Irans drone technology has reached a point that it is now able to transfer its know-how to other countries, according to Dalirian.

Iranian military experts in recent years have managed to develop indigenous arms manufacturing capabilities in various areas despite the sanctions imposed by the US and the West, Dalirian adds.

Under heavy US sanctions, Iran has no other way than relying on itself to improve its own capacity on drones. Even though Iranian drone technology is rather limited, Tehran continues its UAV development efforts by transferring its experience on rocket/missile technologies to the UAV field, Pehlivan says.

There are signs that Iran receives support from China and Russia, the two anti-Western countries like Tehran, to develop its defence technology, according to Pehlivan. However, they could not so far manage to manufacture drones that have proven themselves on the battlefield, such as Trkiyes Bayraktar, Karayel and Anka."

The success stories of Turkeys Bayraktars in Azerbaijans Karabakh and sales to Turkic Central Asian states and Tajikistan, a non-Turkic central Asia nation, might also have pushed Iran to open its first military production line abroad, Pehlivan views.

Iran having cultural, geographical and historical proximity with Tajikistan could also seek to compete with Trkiyes Bayraktar even though its systems are far less performant than the Turkish drones, says Pehlivan.

Long before launching its first official drone production line in Tajikistan, Iran provided simple kamikaze UAVs to its proxies and ally forces across the Middle East, from Lebanons Hezbollah to Hamas, Yemens Houthis, Iraqi Shia groups and Syrias Assad regime, according to Pehlivan.

Source: TRT World

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Why is Iran developing a drone production line in Tajikistan? - TRT World