Hassan Shateri
{{Short description|Iranian army officer (1955–2013)}}
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{{Cleanup|reason=minor tone issues.|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = Sardar
| name = Hassan Shateri
| native_name = حسن شاطری
| native_name_lang = fa
| image = Hasan Shteri.06.by Mbazri (cropped).JPG
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth year|1955}}
| birth_place = Semnan Province, Imperial State of Iran
| death_place = Damascus–Beirut Highway, Syria
| death_cause = Israeli airstrike
| placeofburial = Iran
| death_date = February 12, {{Death year and age|2013|1955}}
| alma_mater = Urmia University (civil engineering)
| nickname = Hessam Khoshnevis
| allegiance = {{flag|Iran}}
| branch =
| serviceyears =
| rank = Major General
| commands =
| unit = Basij
Quds Force
| battles = 1979 Kurdish Rebellion
Iran–Iraq War
| awards =
}}
Hassan Shateri ({{langx|fa|حسن شاطری}}; 1955 – February 12, 2013), also known as Hesam Khoshnevis (حسام خوشنویس),{{cite news|last1=Javedanfar|first1=Meir|title=Assassination Will Not Weaken Iran's Support for Assad – |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/02/iranian-general-hassan-shateri-assasinated-syria-hezbollah.html#|access-date=3 April 2016|publisher=Al-Monitor|language=en-us}} was an Iranian military officer and Major General of Iran's elite IRGC Quds Force.{{cite news|last1=Dehghan|first1=Saeed Kamali|title=Elite Iranian general assassinated near Syria-Lebanon border |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/feb/14/elite-iranian-general-assassinated-syria-lebanon|access-date=3 April 2016|work=The Guardian|date=14 February 2013|language=en-GB}} He was a veteran of the Iran–Iraq war and head of the Iranian Committee for the Reconstruction of Lebanon after the 2006 Lebanon War, according to Iranian media.{{cite news|last1=Dominic|first1=Evans|last2=Karouny|first2=Mariam|title=Iranian Guards commander killed in Syria |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-iran-idUSBRE91D0EY20130215|access-date=3 April 2016|work=Reuters|date=15 February 2013}} He was assassinated in February 2013.{{cite news|last1=Fassihi|first1=Farnaz|title=Iranian General Is Killed in Syria |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324162304578302530164834200|access-date=3 April 2016|work=Wall Street Journal}}
Hojatoleslam Panahian said that "Our Shateri was no less than Mughniyeh", in his meeting with Shateri some years ago{{When|date=June 2023}} in Lebanon's embassy.
Life
Shateri was born in Semnan, Iran, in 1955{{cite news|author=Will Fulton|title=The Assassination of Iranian Quds Force General Hassan Shateri in Syria |url=http://www.irantracker.org/analysis/fulton-assassination-iranian-quds-force-general-hassan-shateri-syria-february-28-2013|access-date=16 May 2016|work=Iran Tracker|date=28 February 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316140418/http://www.irantracker.org/analysis/fulton-assassination-iranian-quds-force-general-hassan-shateri-syria-february-28-2013|archive-date=16 March 2016}} to a religious family. In his teens, he actively participated in demonstrations against the Shah. He studied civil engineering. Following the Islamic revolution in Iran, he joined Basij in 1979. In 1980, when anti-revolution forces had captured Sardasht, he went there to participate in the fighting against them.
He was a battalion commander in 1981; head of logistics and operations of Hamza Sayyed al-Shohada Headquarters in 1983; head of logistics and operations, and chief of staff, of the Sardasht deployed the army in 1984; commander of operations of Sardasht in 1985–87; head of the engineering unit in Hamza Sayyed al-Shohada Headquarters in 1988; engineering unit deputy commander of the Hamza Sayyed al-Shohada Headquarters in 1990; and commander of the Isfahan Corps engineering unit.{{cite news|last1=Staff writers|title=Who was engineer Hassan Shateri?|url=http://www.rajanews.com/news/234256|access-date=1 May 2016|agency=Raja News}}
Assassination
File:Funeral of Hassan Shateri.jpg
He was assassinated in Syria on February 12, 2013. According to a report by The Sunday Times, he was killed in an alleged IAF airstrike on a Hezbollah weapons convoy in Damascus, that contained the Russian-made SA-17 air defence missile system.{{cite web |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/top-iranian-general-said-target-of-israeli-strike-in-syria/|title='Israel's strike on Syria last month killed top Iranian general'|first=Gabe|last=Fisher|date=24 February 2013|access-date=1 May 2016|work=The Times of Israel}} Other reports said he was killed inside Syria by rebel militants battling the Syrian government. Iranian news outlets blamed his death on "Zionist agents". IRGC spokesman Ramezan Sharif claimed that Shateri had been murdered by Israeli agents. He had been in Aleppo before being killed.
He had been an Israeli assassination target for a long time. According to the Sunday Times, despite his caution, Shateri was very closely followed and his movements watched in Damascus by Mossad agents. But it appears that there was no time to mount a classic "hit and run" killing on the ground. Instead, it was decided the only option was airpower. According to information passed on by the agents, Shateri would be on his way to Beirut imminently and there was no time to lose. "He was a fox, a clever man, who gave us a hard time," said a well-informed Israeli intelligence source. "His death postponed the delivery of strategic weapons to Hezbollah, but I doubt if it will hold them up for long."{{cite news|last1=Sherlock|first1=Ruth|title=Iran commander assassinated in Syria|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9871583/Iran-commander-assassinated-in-Syria.html|access-date=10 April 2016|work=Telegraph|date=14 February 2013}}
=Funeral=
He was buried in Tehran.{{cite news|title=Funeral for Iranian senior Revolutionary Guard leader|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-21466851|access-date=16 May 2016 |publisher=BBC News|date=14 February 2013}} IRGC General Mohammad Ali Jafari, Qods Force Major General Qasem Soleimani, and other Iranian officials attended his funeral.{{cite news|last1=Levy|first1=Elior|title=Rebels: Iranian official killed in airstrike on Syria|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4345171,00.html|access-date=10 April 2016|work=ynet|date=14 February 2013}}
References
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External links
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Category:Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps brigadier generals
Category:Assassinated Iranian people
Category:Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel of the Iran–Iraq War
Category:People from Semnan, Iran