Assassination of Ali Sayyad Shirazi

There had been several attacks on senior officials in Iran in the months before Sayyad Shirazi's assassination, among them a senior judge, Ali Razini, the head of Iran's largest charity organisation, and Mohsen Rafighdoost, who were injured during separate assassination attempts. According to a spokesman for Mojahedin-e Khalq, back then Iraq-based armed opposition group. several of the group's units had carried out the killings in northern Tehran. Mojahedin-e Khalq claimed the responsibility for the assassination of Asadollah Lajevardi, a former Iranian chief prosecutor and head of Iran's Prisons Organization, who was assassinated on 23 August 1998. Ali Sayyad Shirazi had personally commanded several of Iran's major offensives in the Iran–Iraq War, earning him the nickname "Iron Man". ==Assassination==

Ali Sayyad Shirazi was fatally shot by an unknown assailant while leaving home for work. He was taken to Farhang hospital where he was pronounced dead at 54. The assailant was disguised as a municipality street sweeper. According to witnesses, Sayyad Shirazi received three bullets. Shirazi was assassinated in retribution for his role in Operation Mersad during the Iran-Iraq War, where the MEK forces were defeated by Iranian forces under his command. A MEK spokesman said that Shirazi had been targeted because for "purging and executing military personnel and for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of child soldiers during the Iran-Iraq War, when he commanded Iran's ground forces." Zahra Ghaemi was described by the Iranian media as being in the charge of the assassination team. Aftermath Shirazi's funeral was held the day after his assassination. Iranian supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was present at Shirazi's funeral. ==References==