Military Funeral Held For Victim Of Qom Incident With Whom IRGC Denied Links

While the Iran’s Revolutionary Guard had denied links with a person recently shot dead in the city of Qom, the IRGC held a military funeral for him, Iran International learned. 

According to information received by Iran International, IRGC officials were present at the funeral service while military hymns were performed. 

Videos surfaced on social media on Monday of a shooting in Qom, which resulted in one death. Initial reports claimed that the person who was killed during the standoff was an IRGC officer but the Guards denied it, saying the viral video belonged to a recent exchange of fire between the police in Qom province and drug traffickers. 

The IRGC had also said the person who was shot dead by the traffickers was an ordinary citizen who was the driver of a car at the scene, and had no affiliation with the IRGC. 

The news came as an Israeli website reported the death of another Iranian scientist -- Kamran Mollapour, who was reportedly working at Natanz nuclear facility in central Iran -- on Monday, but the report cannot be confirmed by Iran International.

Conflicting reports are still circulating about the death of Iranian aerospace scientist Ayoob Entezari -- who held a PhD in mechanical and aerospace engineering -- with some calling it an assassination and government saying he died of food poisoning.

Reports about Entezari’s fate came days after the deaths of two colonels from the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Ali Esmailzadeh and Hassan Sayyad-Khodaei.