Iran denies reports Revolutionary Guard colonel was assassinated

A soldier stands next to a Shahab-3 missile during a rally marking Al Quds Day in Tehran in April. Another colonel from the Revolutionary Guards wing has died, Iran says. EPA

Iran on Friday reported that another colonel in its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps died — denying reports the officer was assassinated.

It is the second death in two weeks of a member of the IRGC's elite Quds force, a wing that specialises in unconventional warfare.

A report by Iran's official IRNA news agency said Col Ali Esmailzadeh died during an “incident in his residence” days ago in city of Karaj, about 35 kilometres north-west of the capital Tehran.

The report quoted an unnamed official.

Other news channels close to the IRGC said Esmailzadeh fell from the rooftop or balcony of his home.

In May, two unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle shot Col Sayad Khodaei five times in a car in front of his residence in Tehran.

Iran blamed his killing on the US and its allies, including Israel.

Iran traditionally blames Israel for such assassinations, including those carried out on nuclear scientists in the past.