Iran's Judiciary Spokesman Gholam-Hossein Emaili on Tuesday said a "collaborator" who had provided foreign intelligence services with details of movements of Qods Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, has been sentenced to death.
According to Esmaili the death sentence that was passed on Seyed Mahmoud Mousavi-Majd earlier has been upheld by Branch 19 of the Supreme Court and will soon be carried out.
Esmaili did not provide any information about Mousavi-Majd's age, occupation or military connections, how he was arrested or his trial but claimed that he had been connected to Mossad and the CIA. An Iran expert said on Twitter that he was a senior member of the Revolutionary Guard.
It is not possible to verify the claims of Iran's Judiciary about a collaborator or whether this person was a member of IRGC.
According to the Spokesman, Mousavi-Majd sold information in "various security areas, particularly the Armed Forces including the Qods Force" as well as information on Soleimani's whereabouts and movements.
The United States targeted the armored Toyota Land Cruisers of Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the Deputy Commander of Iraq's Popular Recruiting Forces (IPRF) outside Baghdad International Airport in the early hours of January 3.
Both men and nine of their companions were killed in the missile attack which took place no more than 15 minutes from the time their plane had landed. The vehicles were seen completely on fire with body parts of the passengers, including Soleimani's hand, strewn around them. Soleimani severed hand and a ring he always wore helped identify him.
Soleimani had flown to Baghdad on a commercial flight from Syria and was greeted by al-Muhandis.
On January 18, Intelli Times, an online Israeli intelligence blog published a detailed reconstructed report about the operation according to which when flying to Baghdad, Soleimani was nearly always greeted by Al-Muhandis upon arrival at the airport where (IPRF) agents had been observed making preparations before the attack.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed "harsh vengeance" for Soleimani's killing. Iran later retaliated Soleimani's killing by launching more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two Iraqi bases that hosted U.S. forces. The attack had no fatalities but tens of U.S. soldiers suffered brain injuries.
