Toufan condemns the May 22nd assassination of IRGC Colonel Hassan Sayad Khodayari

Below is a slightly edited statement from the Party of Labour of Iran (Toufan; www.toufan.org/ ) on the brazen assassination of Hassan Sayad Khodayari, a colonel in the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in Tehran at the beginning of the week, similiar to the series of assassinations targeting Iranian nuclear scientists and the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, also of the Quds Force, January 3, 2020 in Iraq.  Just as the US media doesn't give a sense of how many attacks the Israeli military and settlers carry out against Palestinians and other Arabs, the American public might also not realize the amount of terrorism and violence targeting Iran:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran–Israel_proxy_conflict 

Terrorist acts are against the national interests and the struggle of the people of Iran for democratic rights.  

The Party of Labour of Iran (Toufan) strongly condemns them.  

The Supreme National Security Council of Iran confirmed Sunday’s terrorist act in Tehran and the killing of Colonel Hassan Sayad, according to a statement.  

Sayad Khodayari was serving as the Deputy of the Research and Technology Development section of Iran’s Defense Industries Organization.  

The public relations department of “Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps-IRGC” also announced in a statement that  

“This evening (Sunday, May 22), in one of the alleys in the east of Tehran, Colonel Sayad Khodaei was the target of a terrorist act by counter-revolution and elements affiliated with global arrogance."  

Israeli newspapers also wrote with the headline "Deletion in the heart of Tehran":  

"Hassan Sayad Khodayari, one of the senior officers of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, was shot by two motorcyclist killers in broad daylight yesterday."  

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, head of the Research and Innovation Organization of the Iranian Ministry of Defense, was assassinated in a similar way in a village outside Tehran in 2020. Iran's foreign ministry and military officials accused Israel of this assassination.  

The systematic terrorist operations on Iran's nuclear engineers and prominent military figures over the past few years leave no doubt that Israeli terrorist and intelligence teams have penetrated Iran. With the help of the US intelligence services, which has placed the IRGC on the terrorist list, Israel justifies these actions. Exploiting the internal crisis and public dissatisfaction, Israelis try to disintegrate the society from within by creating terror and political insecurity. Therefore, our party is of the opinion:  

First, this targeted terrorist act is the continuation of the past assassination of Iran's nuclear scientists and military leaders and is for the purpose of escalation of tensions and unrest in Iran and the region.  

Second, given that the United States is now in a position of weakness in the Region and in the nuclear negotiation in Vienna and Iran is in a strong position, the purpose of this adventurous and terrorist operation is to provoke Iran for a military response and confrontation with Israel and the United States. 

As we have repeatedly emphasized, Israel does not want peace in the region; its survival is tied to division, war and aggression. It is in the nature of Zionism to incite war.  

The Party of Labour of Iran (Toufan) strongly condemns this terrorist act and considers it a form of a war of attrition against the Iranian people.  

The Party of Labour of Iran (Toufan) condemns the assassination and tension-creating acts and economic sanctions against Iran. We consider them as opposed to peace, stability, security, and the interest of the Iranian people and of the people of the Region.  

Considering the growth of the people's struggle for their democratic rights, these terrorist acts narrow and overshadow the atmosphere of political and civil struggle of the Iranian people. Such an atmosphere of fear and intimidation gives the regime of the Islamic Republic an excuse to label any peaceful and democratic movement of the people as "alignment with Israel and foreign enemies" and suppress it.  

The Iranian organisations and currents that approve the blind and criminal assassinations or remain silent about them are practically accomplices of international and domestic reaction and are opposed to the national and class interests of the Iranian people.  

The Party of Labour of Iran (Toufan)  

WWW. Toufan.org  

May 23, 2022