Lebanese man and daughter with reported Hezbollah connection shot dead in Tehran

Iranian news agencies on Saturday confirmed earlier social media reports that a Lebanese man and his daughter with possible connection with Lebanese Hezbollah were shot dead in their car.

The murder took place near the house of Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, the former Deputy Commander of Iraq’s Popular Recruiting Forces (IPRF), on Friday night. Al-Muhandis himself was killed on Januray 3 when U.S. missiles targeted Qassem Soleimani. Some Arab media say the victim, named as Habib Davoud, was a Hezbollah operative.

The bodies were found shortly after the shooting in the car belonging to the victim by neighbors at 9 on Friday night.

Mehr News Agency quoted an “informed source” of the Criminal Investigation Police as saying that the two “victims were shot dead by a man on a motorbike in Golestan Avenue, an affluent neighborhood in the north of the capital Tehran, and named them as Habib Dawoud, 58, and his daughter Maryam, 27.

The Police has not issued a statement yet but has started their investigations.

Iranian news agencies at first did not mention the nationality of the victims and only called them “Arabic-speakers”. They also said the victim was a “professor of history”. So far, apart from the Students News Network (SNN) no other Iranian media outlet has made any mention of Al-Muhandis’ house in Tehran. SNN is close to former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Public Relations Department of Tehran Province Governor’s Office on its Telegram Channel said based on eyewitness reports from social media the assailant fired four bullets from the sidewalk on the driver’s side of the car and a fifth bullet hit a passing car and then fled a motorbike. The report may be an indication that the incident has serious security dimensions.

Edy Cohen, an Israeli researcher who specializes in the Arab-Israeli conflict and terrorism, in a tweet in Arabic Friday night called the victims “Hezbollah officials” and said the killing was “an assassination”.

Radio Farda cannot independently verify whether Dawoud is affiliated with the Hezbollah.

Some Iraqi news websites have called the incident an “assassination”, also said the incident took place near Al-Muhandis’ house, and called Davoud a Hezbollah operative or official.

Source: Radio Farda