Iranian scientist and a senior military officer found dead in mysterious circumstances amid a new wave of tension between Iran and Israel
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Bethany Dawson
Jun 5, 2022, 20:45 IST
Iranian flag (R) next to the Israeli flag (L)Getty Images
A military officer and a weapons scientist have died under mysterious circumstances in Tehran.
Israel has taken responsibility for assassinating another senior officer, saying it was a "warning" to Iran's secret Unit 840.
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A military officer and a weapons scientist have died under mysterious circumstances in Tehran, fuelling tension between Iran and Israel.
Military officer Colonel Ali Esmaelzadeh died under unverified circumstances on Friday. The New York Times reported that various sources said his death was either an assassination, a suicide, or an accident.
Esmaelzadeh died just one week after the drive-by-shooting and the subsequent death of Colonel Sayad Khodaei outside his home in Tehran, another high-ranking officer in the same unit as Esmaelzadeh.
The New York Times reported that an official briefed on official intelligence has confirmed Israel informed US officials that they were responsible for the killing of Khodaei.
However, the paper also reported that two Israeli officials denied that the state was involved in the death of Esmaelzadeh.
The paper also reports that the Israelis advised the US officials that the assassination of Khodaei was a warning sign to halt the operation of Unit 840, of which he was allegedly the deputy commander.
In reaction to Khodaei's death, General Hossein Salami, the commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards, said in a speech on Monday that "none of the enemy's evil actions will go unanswered."
Iran's state Tasnim news agency released a statement from the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps regarding the death of Khodaei, in which IRGC spokesperson General Ramezan Sharif said that "the thugs and the remnants of terrorist groups affiliated with the global arrogance and Zionism will be given punishment for their criminal act."
Amid the tensions, Israel warned citizens on Monday against traveling to Turkey, as they believe Tehran could be seeking revenge for the assassination, Reuters reported.
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Along with the deaths of these men, Ayoob Entezari, an Iranian aerospace engineer who worked on developing missiles and drones, according to the Times of Israel, died under mysterious circumstances in Tehran.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz writes that Entezari is thought to have died from food poisoning, per an Iranian website report on Saturday.
It followed a report in The New York Times of a drone attack on a military base near Tehran that left an Iranian engineer dead and another person injured.
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