Col. Ali Esmailzadeh, one of the commanders of the 840th Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards and a close associate of Colonel Hassan Sayad Khodaei, died on Monday after falling from the roof of his house in the Karaj World View area, Iran International, a Saudi-sponsored Persian language television station headquartered in London and targeting Iranian viewers, reported on Thursday.
According to sources inside Iran, Colonel Esmailzadeh was taken to Shahid Madani Hospital in Karaj after falling from the roof of his house, and doctors issued a death certificate for him after an examination.
Revolutionary Guards officials told Colonel Ismailzadeh’s family that the cause of his death was suicide – he ended his life over psychological problems caused by his separation from his wife. They presented a suicide note Esmailzadeh presumably left behind.
The suspicious death of Colonel Ali Esmailzadeh comes eight days after one of his close associates was shot dead by five bullets in Tehran. Colonel Sayad Khodaei, one of the commanders of the 840th unit of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, was attacked by two motorcyclists in Tehran.
Khodaei was shot five times while sitting in a car in front of his house in Tehran close to two weeks ago. The assailants fled on their motorcycle and are still at large. An unnamed intelligence official told The New York Times last week that Israel was behind the assassination, as a warning to Tehran against the continued operation of Unit 840 which operates an assassination unit abroad.
Some sources blamed Col. Khodaei for plotting overseas attacks and multiple assassinations in India, Thailand, Cyprus, and Georgia. According to Iran International, after Col. Khodaei was killed, Revolutionary Guards intelligence, which was looking for clues inside the Quds Force, suspected Colonel Ismailzadeh and accused him of leaking information to Western intelligence services. The Revolutionary Guards decided to eliminate Ismailzadeh and staged his suicide.
The official news agency of the Islamic Republic, IRNA, responded on Friday to the Iran International report, citing an informed source who claimed the “reports on the alleged assassination attempt against a commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force is a psychological warfare.” The news agency said IRGC-affiliated media had confirmed the death of the Quds Force member, calling it a “home accident,” “Residential,” and “fall from the balcony.”
IRNA added: “A resident lost his life, the cause of which is under investigation.” At the same time, the news agency denied the claim of “assassination,” calling it a “psychological war and news-making.”
The Saberin News channel, which is close to the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, reported that Col. Ismailzadeh “died the day before after falling from the balcony of his house,” adding that “an investigation has been launched and his assassination has not been confirmed yet and the cause of death is unknown.”
Nevertheless, Saberin warned its readers: “Do not pay attention to the news outlets of the dissident networks, nothing is known at the moment.” Then, one hour later, Saberin denied an “assassination” had been the cause of Ismailzadeh’s death.
The Amariun channel, on the other hand, published a news brief that said: “It is said that another member of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards was assassinated in Tehran.” Minutes later, the channel changed the word “assassination” to “suicide,” and wrote: “It is said that a person named Colonel Ali Ismailzadeh committed suicide in Karaj after falling from his house.”
And that, ladies and gentleman, is how you deny a report.
