On June 21, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz announced that the Israeli military had killed the commander of the foreign unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a result of an attack on an apartment in Iran’s Qom province. The commander of the foreign unit of the Guard, Benham Shariyari, was also eliminated. informs Reuters.
Katz’s statement said Commander Saeed Izadi led the Palestinian Foreign Service Corps, also known as the Quds Force. The Israeli military added that an attack was made on a vehicle in the west of Tehran at night, and as a result, another commander from the foreign unit of the Guard, Benham Shariyari, was eliminated. This commander was responsible for all arms transfers from the Iranian regime to its proxies throughout the Middle East.
According to the Israeli military, Shariyari provided missiles and rockets used against Israel, Hezbollah, Hamas and the Yemeni Houthis. At the same time, confirmation of the liquidation of both commanders has not yet been received from the KIR.
The Quds Force created a network of Arab allies in the region known as the Axis of Resistance, including founding Hezbollah in Lebanon in 1982 and supporting the Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But the network has taken a major hit over the past two years, with Israeli operations following the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas targeting both Palestinian groups and Hezbollah.
Izadi financed and armed Hamas during the first attacks, so his elimination was a major achievement for Israeli intelligence and the Air Force. The US and UK have previously imposed sanctions on Izadi over what they say are his links to Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which was also involved in the October 7 attacks.
