An Iranian senior missile engineer was allegedly killed in the southern part of the country a couple of days ago, Israel’s N12 reported, citing local social media posts.
The report has not been confirmed.
According to the social media posts, Islamic Revolutionary Guards’ Corps engineer Said Thamardar Mutlak died as a "Shahid" – warrior in battle – in the city of Shiraz, N12 reported.
However, some social media posts stated that Iranian authorities threatened Mutlak’s family to publish his death, with others blaming Israel’s security service Mossad for “the assassination of Mutlak.”
"Cowardly assassination of heroes of our scientific prowess didn't help behind-the-curtain terrorists to achieve their goals," Nasser Kanaani, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said on Saturday night.
However, it was unclear whether he referred to the assassination of Mutlak or to the ongoing nuclear talks between the United States and Iran, according to The Jerusalem Post.
The killing of the Mutlak is the latest incident of deaths of high officials in the Islamic Republic.
Last week, on July 17, senior Iranian naval officer Admiral Beitaleh Devsalar was killed while he was on a “mission.”
In June, two Iranian aerospace officials, including a member of the Revolutionary Guards' Corps, were "martyred while on mission" in separate incidents inside the country.
It came just two weeks after a member of Iran's Quds Force unit 840 Colonel Ali Esmailzadeh died "in an accident in his home," with another military official killed outside of his home in the capital of Tehran in May.
Iran previously blamed the “Zionists” for being behind the assassination of high-profile officials, including the two aerospace officials, however, at the beginning of June, Israel denied its involvement in the killing of Esmailzadeh.
