Sadegh Omidzadeh ( fa, صادق امیدزاده; died 20 January 2024), also known as Hojatollah Omidvar ( fa, حجت الله امیدوار), was an Iranian general and head of the Quds Force intelligence unit in Syria. He was killed by an Israeli airstrike during the

Israel–Hamas war An armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups has been taking place chiefly in and around the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023. On that day, Palestinian militant groups launched 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, a surp ...

Military career

On 14 August 2012, Omidzadeh, along with other Iranian officials, was captured by

Syrian opposition The Syrian opposition ( ar, المعارضة السورية ', ) is the political structure represented by the Syrian National Coalition and associated Syrian anti-Assad groups with certain territorial control as an alternative Syrian gover ...

groups in the vicinity of

Damascus airport Damascus International Airport ( ar, مَطَار دِمَشْق الدَّوْلِيّ, Maṭār Dimašq ad-Duwaliyy) is the international airport of Damascus, the capital of Syria. Inaugurated in the mid-1970s, it also was the country's bus ...

. Subsequently, he was released following mediation efforts by Qatar. In June 2023, reports surfaced indicating that Omidzadeh was planning attacks on American forces in Syria. His specific focus involved targeting U.S.

Humvee The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of light, four-wheel drive, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It has largely supplanted the roles previously performed by the ori ...

and

Cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mamm ...

armored vehicles within Syrian territory.

Death

On 20 January 2024, Omidzadeh, along with four other Iranian officials, Ali Aghazadeh, Saeed Karimi, Hossein Mohammadi, and Mohammad Amin Samadi, was killed during a meeting at a building in the

Mezzeh Mezzeh ( ar, ٱلْمَزَّة, al-Mazzah, also transcribed as al-Mazzah, el-Mezze, etc.) is a municipality in Damascus, Syria, due west of Kafr Sousa. It lies to the southwest of central Damascus, along the Mezzeh highway (also known as Fayez M ...

district of

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

. The Israeli airstrikes, as reported by the

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , image = Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Logo.jpg , image_size = 200px , caption = The logo of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , type = NGO , founded_date = , founder ...

, resulted in the complete destruction of the building, leading to the death of at least 10 military personnel. His death occurred less than a month after Israel had assassinated another high-ranking Iranian general, Razi Mousavi, in Damascus, and two weeks after the assassination of Saleh al-Arouri in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omidzadeh, Sadegh 20th-century births Year of birth missing 2024 deaths Assassinated Iranian people Assassinations in Syria Deaths by Israeli airstrikes Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel of the Syrian civil war Targeted killing by Israel Quds Force personnel Military personnel killed in the Israel–Hamas war Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps brigadier generals