Hassan Shateri

Hassan Shateri (&lrm;; 1955 – February 12, 2013), also known as Hesam Khoshnevis (حسام خوشنویس), was a Top Iranian General of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards. 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. He was assassinated in February 2013.

Hojatoleslam Panahian said that "Our Shateri was no less than Mughniya", in his meeting with Shateri some years ago in Lebanon’s embassy.

Life
Shateri was born in Semnan, Iran, in 1955 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 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.

Assassination
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 which had as its target a convoy carrying weapons between Syria and Lebanon. 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.

The attack was perpetrated close to the Lebanese border near the city of Zabadani, according to a Syrian opposition commander. Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP: "We do not know exactly where he was shot, but we do know that a rebel group ambushed his vehicle while en route from Damascus to Beirut".

He had been an assassination target for some time; men suspected of planning such an attack had been arrested, according to sources inside Hezbollah.

Funeral
He was buried in Tehran. IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, Qods Force Commander Qasem Soleimani, and other Iranian officials attended his funeral.