Iran's UN Ambassador Majid Takht-Ravanchi called on the world body to condemn the "terrorist assassination" last week of Hassan Sayyad Khodaee, a colonel in the Quds Force, which is the overseas branch of Iran's hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).  

In a letter to UN chief Antonio Guterres, the Iranian envoy said the assassination fell within a "systematic" scheme in which "innocent Iranian civilians and scientists" are killed to advance the "illegitimate" foreign policy goals of "certain regimes."

Takht-Ravanchi referred the United Nations to its original charter and warned that "dangerous consequences" were lying ahead for global peace, as civilians of other countries could be next in line for "state terrorism" practiced by the same regimes. The diplomat also promised that the Islamic Republic will go out of its way "to hold the perpetrators of this terrorist crime and their supporters accountable.” 

Sayyad Khodaee was gunned down by two motorcyclists in a central neighborhood on Sunday, according to Iranian officials. The Islamic Republic has described the colonel as a "shrine defender," a title it typically grants to Quds Force members fighting in Syria to shore up its ally President Bashar al-Assad.