The Quds Force member was shot five times outside his home in Tehran
Sayyad Khodaei, a colonel in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite foreign operations squad, the Quds Force, has been shot dead by a pair of motorcycle-mounted assassins outside his home on Mojahedin-e Eslam Street in Tehran, Iranian state media reported on Sunday.
Khodaei was shot five times while sitting in his car in broad daylight on the street, which is considered a secure area and located near the Iranian parliament. His body was discovered by his wife, and the Tehran prosecutor quickly appeared on the scene to call for a thorough and rapid police investigation.
The IRGC decried Khodaei’s murder as a “terrorist act” and blamed “elements linked to global arrogance” for the crime, a reference to the US, Israel and their allies. He was described as a “defender of the shrines,” meaning he fought with the Quds Force in Syria and Iraq.
“The sworn enemies of the holy system of the Islamic Republic of Iran once again showed their evil nature with the assassination and martyrdom of one of the members of the IRGC troops,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said following the announcement of Khodaei’s killing.
No one had claimed responsibility for the attack as of Sunday night, and the motive for the slaying is not known. It was the most high-profile killing in Tehran since the murder of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in 2020. Earlier that same year, Quds Force commander Major General Qassem Soleimani was assassinated in a US airstrike at Baghdad Airport that also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq.
While the IRGC and Ministry of Intelligence reportedly arrested members of an Israeli intelligence network on Sunday, releasing a statement claiming the agents “attempted to steal and destroy personal and public property, kidnap and obtain fake confessions through a network of thugs,” no evidence has been produced linking the two incidents. Israel has refused to comment on either matter.
As a significant portion of the recently reported Monkeypox cases has been identified among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) expressed concern on Sunday about some public media reporting and commentary reinforcing homophobic and racist stereotypes.
Three-quarters of the land-based environment and about 66% of the marine environment have been significantly altered by human actions. On the International Day for Biological Diversity, the UN Secretary-General urged to end the ‘senseless and destructive war against nature’.
Read the full story, “Biodiversity Day: UN chief calls to ‘build a shared future for all life’â€, on globalissues.org →find more fun & mates at SoShow now !
Australians awoke on Sunday to a new prime minister in Anthony Albanese, the center-left Labor Party leader, though it remains unclear whether his party can form a majority government.
Ankara has a chance to use the situation to achieve its goals, Naim Baburoglu says
Turkey should take full advantage of the historic opportunity provided by Finland and Sweden’s bids to join NATO, a retired Turkish Brigadier General Naim Baburoglu has said.
The two Nordic nations have applied to become members of the US-led military bloc in the wake of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
But NATO-member Turkey said it’s going to oppose their bids, accusing Finland and Sweden of supporting the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been outlawed by Ankara.
Thanks to its veto power, Turkey has now received a strategic card, which is only drawn once in 30 or 40 years, and it must be used to make sure than not only Helsinki and Stockholm, but all NATO members, designate the PKK as a terrorist organization, Baburoglu told the Sozcu newspaper on Sunday.
Finland and Sweden denouncing the PKK and handing over Kurdish suspects, and the US approving the sale of F-16s to Turkey, which were among the demands recently voiced by Ankara, shouldn’t be enough for the Turkish government to change its stance, he added.
“Even if it takes 20 years, Turkey must capitalize on its veto power on the issue of Sweden and Finland,” said the retired general, who used to work at NATO’s headquarters near the Belgian city of Mons.
According to Baburoglu, it’s in Washington’s power to resolve the deadlock over Helsinki and Stockholm’s membership bids.
“Who has the most interest in Sweden and Finland being in NATO? It’s the US because it wants to surround Russia from the northern Baltics. Therefore… Turkey should discuss this matter with the US in the first place,” he said.
DURBAN, May 20 (IPS) – Governments of the world must focus on providing quality free education and prosecuting corrupt officials and people who siphon state and donor funds as crucial steps towards taking decisive action to fight child labour across the globe.Read the full story, “Youth Survivors, Activists Will Hold Governments Accountable to Call to Action on Ending Child Labourâ€, on globalissues.org →find more fun & mates at SoShow now !
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