Senior Iranian Official In Lebanon Killed

Hassan Shateri

Iran says one of its senior officials stationed in Lebanon has been shot dead.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said Hassan Shateri, a commander of the elite military unit, was killed while traveling from Damascus to Beirut.

It said Shateri was in charge of the Iranian Committee for the Reconstruction of Lebanon.

The Iranian Embassy in Beirut said the man was also known as Hessam Khoshnevis, adding that he was killed by "armed terrorists."

According to the Lebanese newspaper “Al-Safir,” Shateri was visiting the northern Syrian city of Aleppo “to study projects to reconstruct the city.”

Iran is a strong backer of Lebanon's Shi'te Islamic group Hizballah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

It has admitted that Revolutionary Guards members are playing an advisory role in Syria.

Based on reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters