Widespread Reaction of Islamic Republic Officials to the Death of Hossein Hamadani

The President, Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran expressed their condolences in separate messages regarding the death of Hossein Hamadani, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in Syria. This widespread reaction from the highest levels of the Islamic Republic government indicates the importance and status of this IRGC commander. Hossein Hamadani, who was the commander of the Mohammad Rasulullah Corps in Tehran during the protests following the 2009 presidential election and on Ashura of that year, was killed on Thursday night in Aleppo, Syria. Mr. Hamadani was considered a senior commander of the IRGC in Syria. Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, referred to Mr. Hamadani as a 'brave commander of the Islamic Guard' who was killed 'while guarding the shrine of the Ahl al-Bayt and during an advisory mission to strengthen the Islamic resistance front.' Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament, also praised the 'great commitment' of this senior IRGC commander in 'defending the ideals of Islam, the revolution, and leadership,' stating that he was killed by 'ISIS forces' while on a mission to defend the shrine. Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, referred to Mr. Hamadani as the 'Malik Ashtar of our time' and added that 'the relentless fight against Takfiri terrorism will undoubtedly gain momentum with the shedding of this pure blood.' However, the death of this senior Iranian commander in Syria comes at a time when Iran and Syria have consistently denied the military presence of the Islamic Republic in the country over the past four and a half years, claiming that the presence of Iranian military personnel was solely for advisory purposes. Meanwhile, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, also referred to the death of Hossein Hamadani as a 'great loss,' stating that he was 'intelligent and tireless in his advisory mission in the fight against terrorism, extremism, and occupation.' Hossein Dehghan, Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Support, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Deputy Minister for Arab and African Affairs, several members of Parliament, and Friday prayer leaders also expressed their condolences over the death of this senior IRGC commander in Syria. Mohammad Ali Jafari, the Commander of the IRGC, Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, and other senior IRGC commanders, along with Abdollah Abdollahi, the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters of the IRGC, also visited Mr. Hamadani's home to offer condolences to his family.