Iranian opposition tracking, killing senior military officers

The World Tribune:

Iran's opposition is targeting senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iranian opposition sources said several senior officers of the IRGC have been tracked in major cities, including Teheran. The sources reported the killing of several officers of the IRGC and the Basij militia.

On July 14, an IRGC colonel was stabbed to death in Teheran, Iran's media said, according to Middle East Newsline. The sources said Col. Morteza Moinfar, commander of the Quds Force, was killed by several unidentified assailants.

The Quds Force has been regarded as the foreign intelligence service of the IRGC. The unit has been responsible for aiding Hizbullah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah as well as other insurgency groups in the Middle East, Asia and South America. READ MORE

The IRGC unit was linked to the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 American soldiers. The force was also said to have been responsible for the killing of dissidents in Europe in the early 1990s.

Iran's media reported that Moinfar was stabbed repeatedly. So far, authorities have not announced the arrest of suspects.

In June, a Basij officer was stabbed to death in the Baghestan area of Teheran. Iranian opposition sources said the officer was attacked by two young Iranians after he threatened them with a pistol.

Iran has also been rocked by Kurdish unrest in the northwestern city of Mahabad. On Monday, an Iranian soldier was killed in clashes with Mahabad residents.

There are reports that this was a "signature muder" that fit the execution of other famous dissidents. Thus leading us to speculate that this murder was ordered by Rafsanjani or rogue elements associated with him. If so, it would be further evidence of a power struggle within the regime.