Quds Force Commander's Reaction to the Murder of a Revolutionary Guard Member by ISIS

Several officials of the Islamic Republic, including Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, announced that they will take "revenge" for the murder of Mohsen Hajji from the Islamic State (ISIS) group. Mohsen Hajji, a member of the Revolutionary Guards, was captured by ISIS in Syria on Tuesday and reportedly had his head severed by ISIS members on Wednesday. According to Fars News Agency, Qassem Soleimani wrote in a message on Thursday, August 10, that the forces of this organization will take "revenge" for the murder of Mohsen Hajji "with a decisive decision to eradicate the wicked tree of Wahhabism and terrorism from the Islamic world." Mr. Soleimani swore that they would not rest until the last of this cursed lineage is destroyed. Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of the Ground Forces of the Revolutionary Guards, also emphasized that the forces of this organization will take revenge for the murder of this Revolutionary Guard member and will bring ISIS to justice for their disgraceful actions. The Minister of Interior and some other officials of the Islamic Republic have also issued condolences and statements regarding the killing of Mohsen Hajji. Mohsen Hajji was from the 8th Najaf Ashraf Division of the Revolutionary Guards and resided in Najafabad in Isfahan province. In recent days, Iranian media have published images showing him in "jihadist camps" where participants build facilities or provide services such as medical care and reading in deprived areas of Iran. Reports indicate that Mr. Hajji was captured on Tuesday, August 7, during a conflict in the "Tanf" area at the border of Syria, Iraq, and Jordan. On Wednesday, the Islamic State (ISIS) published an image of the murder of this Revolutionary Guard member, which has received widespread coverage on social media and Iranian media. On Tuesday, at the same time as Mohsen Hajji's capture, a colonel of the Revolutionary Guards named Morteza Hosseinpour Shalamani was also killed in Syria. Hamid Tajbakhsh from the city of Gotvand in Khuzestan province and Ali Azimi from Zarand in Kerman province are among three individuals who were killed in the country this week. The Islamic Republic has sent its military forces in the army and the Revolutionary Guards to Syria to defend Bashar al-Assad's regime and has also dispatched a number of Afghan and Pakistani Shiites in the form of the "Fatimiyoun Brigade" and "Zainabiyoun Brigade" to this country. A significant number of these forces have been killed, and in this regard, Mohammad Ali Shahidi, the head of the Martyrs Foundation, announced in March 2017 that the number of these casualties at that time was 2,100. The threat from the Islamic State by officials of the Islamic Republic comes at a time when this group has also threatened in a new video to carry out new attacks in Iran. According to Reuters, in this video, a masked man holding an AK-47 appears alongside two others and threatens Iran. The report states that this video shows images of the group's attacks on June 7 in Tehran, and a person speaking Persian with an accent threatens to carry out similar actions in central Tehran. The parliament building and the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran were targeted in two simultaneous attacks on June 7, for which the Islamic State claimed responsibility hours later. In this attack, 17 people were killed and more than 50 were injured. Subsequently, Iranian security and judicial officials announced that dozens had been arrested in various provinces of Iran on charges of collaborating with this group, and some had intended to carry out "suicide operations" in Iran. The Revolutionary Guards also announced on June 18 that in retaliation for the Tehran attacks, they targeted one of the Islamic State's centers in Deir ez-Zor, Syria, with their missiles. The number of missiles fired was reported to be six, and the Revolutionary Guards considered this operation "successful," although the Haaretz newspaper quoted Israeli military officials as saying that only two of the missiles hit the intended targets. In this context, ISIS released another threatening video regarding "attacks on Iran."