A high-ranking member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was shot dead outside his home in Tehran on Tuesday, Iranian state-linked media .
Qasem Fethallahi was standing outside his home in the Mokhtari neighbourhood of Tehran on Tuesday evening when he was shot at multiple times, semi-official news outlets Fars and Tasnim .
A person accompanying Fethallahi was also shot, and hospitalised for their injuries. Fethallahi was commander of a base in the neighbourhood, according to the reports.
Tasnim said initial investigations were looking into a "conflict with armed robbers".
Fethallahi’s killing came on the third anniversary of the assassination of high-profile IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed on 3 January 2020 in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport.
Processions and vigils marking the anniversary of Soleimani’s death took place across Iran.
However, video and photos have circulated on social media of posters marking his death being torn down across the country, amid anti-government protests that have lasted four months.
The IRGC has helped enforce a brutal crackdown on the protests, killing hundreds of demonstrators.
A member of the IRGC-linked Basij militia was shot dead during protests in the central Iranian city of Semirom, state media said on Sunday.