TEHRAN – A ceremony was held in Tehran on Saturday to mark the 17th year since Lieutenant General Ali Sayyad-Shirazi was martyred by an operative of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization.

The occasion was attended by a number of officials including former IRGC commander and current Expediency Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei, Army chief Ata’ollah Salehi, Health Minister Mehdi Qazizadeh Hashemi, former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, etc.

Sayyad-Shirazi led a counter offensive, called Mersad Operation, against the MKO militants, who with the help of Saddam Hussein, launched an attack in the summer of 1988 to capture the western city of Kermanshah.

He also led other successful military operations against Iraq, such as Zafar 7 Operation and Nasr-4 Operation. In 1989, Sayyad-Shirazi was awarded the highest military distinction in the Iranian armed forces, the Fath (Conquest) medal.

Sayyad-Shirazi was assassinated on April 10, 1999, at 6:45 local time, outside his house while on his way to work. The MKO claimed responsibility for the attack. It said the act was a revenge for the Mersad Operation.

SP/PA