NYT report: Israel told US it was behind killing of Iranian officer
Slain colonel allegedly linked to operations against Israelis abroad
Israel told the US it was behind the killing of Iranian Col. Sayyad Khodai, The New York Times cited an intelligence official as saying Wednesday.
The New York Times said that "according to an intelligence official briefed on the communications, Israel has informed American officials that it was behind the killing."
Khodai, a leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' Quds Force, was killed last Sunday in Tehran, with the regime blaming Israel for his slaying.
According to the report, the Israelis told the Americans that the killing was a warning to Iran against covert operations of the secret Unit 840 within the Quds Force.
Kohdai was allegedly the deputy commander of the unit.
The New York Times said that he was "in charge of the unit’s operations in the Middle East and countries neighboring Iran and had been involved over the past two years in attempted terrorist attacks against Israelis, Europeans and American civilians and government officials in Columbia, Kenya, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Cyprus."
Two motorcyclists on Sunday opened fire on him in the east of the Iranian capital while he was sitting in his vehicle parked in front of his home. He was shot five times, according to the official IRNA agency.
Iran said it would avenge the killing of Khodai on Monday.
His funeral drew thousands on Tuesday.