Saeed Izadi
Saeed Izadi | |
|---|---|
| Native name | سعید ایزدی |
| Nickname(s) | Haj Ramadan |
| Born | 1964 Iran |
| Died | 21 June 2025 (aged 60–61) Qom, Iran |
| Allegiance |  Iran |
| Branch |  IRGC |
| Rank | Brigadier General |
| Commands | Head of the "Palestine Corps" of the Quds Force[1][2][3] |
Saeed Izadi (سعید ایزدی, also known by his nickname Haj Ramadan and as Sa'id Izadi, Ramazan Izadi, and Sa'id Abedini; 1964 – 21 June 2025) was a senior officer in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), holding the rank of Brigadier General.[4]
From the late 2010s, he headed the "Palestine Corps" of the Quds Force, through which Iran provided funding, weapons, and training to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other Palestinian groups.[5][6][7]
Izadi played a pivotal role in building the Axis of Resistance, expanding Iran’s influence through funding, arms‑smuggling, and operational coordination with Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and others.[8] Izadi was sanctioned by both the United States and the United Kingdom for his central role in financing and coordinating militant operations for terrorist groups.[7]
Izadi was killed on 21 June 2025 during the Iran–Israel war.[9]
Biography
[edit]According to an intelligence document published in February 2025, Izadi was born in 1964 to a religious family from Qom province, Iran. He earned a bachelor's degree in electronic engineering at Khajeh Nasir Toosi University in Tehran.[10]
Izadi joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s, initially serving in its intelligence branch. He later completed officer training at the IRGC military academy. In the 1990s, he was deployed to operational arenas outside Iran, including Lebanon, where he worked with the Hezbollah on rocket infrastructure development, and Sudan, which served as a weapons smuggling corridor to the Middle East.[7]
Head of the "Palestine Corps"
[edit]According to intelligence assessments, around 2014 Izadi was appointed head of the "Palestine Corps," the Quds Force division responsible for operations in the Israel–Palestine theater. In this role, he oversaw the transfer of tens of millions of dollars annually to Hamas, trained rocket manufacturing cells in the Gaza Strip, and developed weapons smuggling networks through East Africa, Syria, and Lebanon.[11][12] Izadi played a pivotal role in building the Axis of Resistance. Retrieved documents reflected Izadi's role over a number of years in "building the Resistance Axis", under Iranian leadership.[13][14][15]
Role in the 7 October attacks
[edit]Izadi was reportedly a key figure in planning and financing the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel. Israeli sources claimed that his division transferred approximately $100 million to Hamas between 2021 and 2023, and provided them with anti-tank missiles and suicide drones.
On 1 April 2024, Iranian media reported that Izadi had been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Damascus, Syria, but the report was later denied.[16]
Sanctions
[edit]Izadi was sanctioned in 2019 by the U.S. Department of the Treasury under Executive Order 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorism or acts of terrorism. The designation identified Izadi as a key official within the Quds Force’s “Palestine Branch”, responsible for coordinating the IRGC's support to militant groups, particularly Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The U.S. Treasury accused him of directing financial transfers, arms shipments, and paramilitary training to these organizations, thereby playing a central role in Iran’s regional strategy to undermine Israeli and Western interests through proxy forces. [14][17]
The United Kingdom also sanctioned Izadi, citing his instrumental involvement in Iranian efforts to fund and operationally support Palestinian armed factions. Both sets of sanctions entailed asset freezes and prohibitions on transactions with financial institutions under U.S. or U.K. jurisdiction, marking Izadi as a key facilitator of Iran’s proxy militant activities.[18][19][20]
Death
[edit]On 21 June 2025, Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed that an Israeli airstrike targeted a residential apartment in Qom, killing Saeed Izadi, the head of the Quds Force's "Palestine Corps".[9] Katz described the operation that killed him as a significant success for Israel's intelligence services and air force.[21] Behnam Shahriyari, the mastermind behind the supply of arms to Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in the same attack.[22]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Israel says it killed Iran's military coordinator with Hamas". BBC. 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Israel claims killing of top Iranian Quds Force commander in Qom strike". Anadolu Agency. 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Israeli military says it killed two Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders". Reuters. 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Executive Order Amending Counter Terrorism Sanctions Authorities; Counter Terrorism Designations and Designations Updates; Iran-related Designation; Syria Designations". OFAC. 10 September 2019.
- ^ "Israel says it killed Iran's military coordinator with Hamas". BBC. 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Israeli military says it killed two Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders". Reuters. 21 June 2025.
- ^ a b c Jason M. Brodsky (11 October 2023). "The Man Helping to Build Iran's 'Axis of Resistance'". The Dispatch.
- ^ Wood, Michael (2024). "Middle East Arms Race and conflict : Applying Richardson's and Game Theoretic Ideas to the Israeli-Hamas-Hezbollah Conflict". doi.org. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ a b "Israeli military says it killed two Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders". Reuters. 21 June 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Activities of Saeed Izadi, Head of the Qods Forces' 'Palestine Branch' Reflected in Captured Document". Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. 27 February 2025.
- ^ "Israel kills IRGC commander tasked with funding, arming Hamas". The Jerusalem Post. 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Friends in name only? Letters show falling out between Iran, Hamas". Israel Hayom. 30 January 2025.
- ^ "Israeli military says it killed two Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders". Reuters. 21 June 2025.
- ^ a b "Activities of Saeed Izadi, Head of the Qods Forces' "Palestine Branch," Reflected in Captured Documents".
- ^ "Israeli military kill head of Palestine corps in IRGC's overseas arm – defense minister". Arab News. 21 June 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Iranian media: Mohammad Saeed Izadi killed in Damascus strike – report later denied". Syria Live Map. 1 April 2024.
- ^ "US joins UK to sanction decision makers in Iran just as UK's new sanctions regime goes into effect". Willkie Compliance Concourse. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ "UK, US sanction Iranians linked to Quds Force, Palestinian militant groups". Reuters. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Britain's New Sanctions Target IRGC Senior Officers Over Hamas Ties". www.iranintl.com. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Iran's Islamist Proxies in the Middle East | Wilson Center". www.wilsoncenter.org. 12 September 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Israeli military says it killed two Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders". Reuters. 21 June 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ Zitun, Yoav; Ari, Lior Ben; Yehoshua, Yossi (21 June 2025). "IDF hunts down IRGC's weapons supplier to proxies | Watch dramatic chase". Ynetnews. Retrieved 21 June 2025.