Another Iranian Killed in Samarra, Iraq

The Tasnim and Fars news agencies, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported on Tuesday, January 28, the death of a young Iranian cleric named Mohammad Hadi Zolghari in the city of Samarra, Iraq. According to these news agencies, Mr. Zolghari was killed on February 26 after encountering an explosive device planted by the Islamic State group (formerly known as ISIS). Tasnim referred to this Iranian cleric as a 'Defender of the Shrine' and added that he was studying religious sciences at the seminary in Najaf. According to the news agency, Mr. Zolghari's body will be buried in accordance with his will in the Wadi al-Salam cemetery in Najaf. Samarra, located 110 kilometers north of Baghdad, is predominantly a Sunni city and an important pilgrimage site for Shiites, housing the shrines of the tenth and eleventh Imams. The Islamic State group had previously intensified its attacks to seize this city. Iranian media reported on January 18 that Seyyed Reza Hosseini-Moghadam, deputy of operations intelligence for the 5th Nasr Division, was killed in the fight against Islamic State forces near Samarra. Earlier, on January 21, news of the death of an Iranian commander in Iraq named 'Mahdi Norouzi' from the 'Command Council of the Shahid Teymouri-Nia Basij Base in Kermanshah' was published in Samarra. On December 26, Hamid Taghavi, a senior commander of the Quds Force, was also killed by a sniper from ISIS in Samarra. Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, stated at Mr. Taghavi's funeral that 'if the Taghavis do not shed blood in Samarra, we must shed blood in Sistan, Azerbaijan, Shiraz, and Isfahan.' Commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps say they have sent military advisors to Iraq to assist the government in battles against the Islamic State militants. Concurrently with reports of the deaths of Iranian military personnel in Iraq, news and reports have also emerged regarding the deaths of several commanders and members of the IRGC in Syria from Iranian news agencies and websites. In the latest case, Tasnim reported the death of Abbas Abdollahi, a senior member of the IRGC, along with his friend Ali Soltan Moradi on February 23 in Syria. Previously, the Rasa news agency in Iran reported the deaths of nearly 20 IRGC members in Syria. In the last days of Mehr, the state news agency IRNA reported that Jabbar Darisavi, one of the IRGC commanders, was killed in Syria.