Brig. Gen. Mohammad Hosseinzadeh Hejazi, deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force and adviser to the late Islamic republic founder Ruhollah Khomeini, has died of a heart attack, a spokesman for Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced, Sunday.
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According to several intelligence organizations, Hejazi, who Iranian officials said had suffered from a chronic illness, oversaw the planning of the 1994 terrorist attack on the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85.
Last year, Israeli intelligence officials concluded Hejazi had also been tasked with Hezbollah's precision missile program in Lebanon. Hejazi was also responsible for the establishment of pro-Iranian organizations in Syria, and according to reports in rebel-affiliated media outlets, was seen in the country several times in recent years.
Prior to the assassination of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, Hejazi had been responsible for Quds Force logistics. He also took part in the brutal crackdown of the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests that saw demonstrators tortured and murdered.
A central player in the Quds Force, Hejazi's death is a serious blow to the elite organization, which has found it hard to fill the vacuum left by Soleimani's death.
Also on Sunday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and senior military officials attended Iran's annual Army Day military parade.
According to an Iranian Defense Ministry statement to the country's semi-official Tasnim news agency, the parade saw the upgraded Zolfaghar missile, revealed for the first time at the Tehran event. In a statement, the ministry claimed the short-range ballistic missile could be attached to a variety of launch systems. Alongside the Zolfaghar, several anti-tank missiles were paraded on the backs of trucks.
Large posters inciting against Israel were also seen at the parade, including one that displayed a large fist against an Israeli flag.
The military procession comes just days after an explosion at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, an incident officials there have blamed on Israel.
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