Pilot from elite Iranian force dies ‘defending’ Iraq shrines

A pilot serving in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards air force was killed in Iraq in another sign of the deepening conflict dragging in Iraq’s neighbours.

The official IRNA news agency reported that Colonel Shoja’at Alamdari Mourjani was killed while “defending” the holy shrines of Shia Muslims in Samarra, north of Baghdad.

Iran did not provide details on whether the pilot, who was buried in Shiraz on Friday, was killed in active combat as Tehran’s ally in Baghdad seeks to limit territorial gains made by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as Isis.

His death, announced late on Saturday, came as Saudi Arabia came under attack on its southern border over the weekend, just days after it had deployed 30,000 troops to its northern border to ward off the threat of Isis insurgents there.

Two suspected al-Qaeda militants blew themselves up in southern Saudi Arabia on Saturday after killing four members of the security forces during an attack on a border post with conflict-ridden Yemen.

Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia have been fighting proxy battles across the Middle East, in places such as Syria and Yemen, in a struggle for regional influence.

The rise of Isis, supported by private donations from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, has alarmed both Tehran and Riyadh.

The Iraqi army also reportedly clashed with Isis fighters as militants made another attempt to wrestle control of the Baiji oil refinery in northern Iraq from government control.

Tehran has repeatedly announced its readiness to support the Iraqi government. While Mourjani’s is the second Iranian death in Iraq to be reported by domestic media, Tehran has denied sending troops.

But analysts agree that Iran is supporting Shia groups militarily and financially in their fight against Isis, which is considered a threat to Iran’s security.

Iranian advisers have been concentrating co-ordination efforts in the defence of the city of Samarra, which resonates among the Shia because of its shrines. The city is also a strategic stronghold securing the route to the capital, Baghdad.

Video claiming to show the Isis leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, delivering a sermon at Friday prayers in Mosul sought to put a face to Isis’ declaration of a sovereign caliphate and illustrate the group’s control since taking the northern Iraqi city last month in a push out of eastern Syria.

Iraq’s military spokesman Maj Gen Qassem Atta questioned whether the video was genuinely of Mr Baghadi. “Security apparatuses will examine the veracity of the video and announce the details later on,” he said.

Hours after the video was posted online on Saturday, Iraqi security forces turned off nationwide access to social media websites, including Facebook and Twitter. The alleged appearance of Mr Baghdadi had triggered widespread commentary on social media.

The subsequent block came after a week of open internet access in a show of confidence. The government had previously blocked social media after the Isis advance through the country last month.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2014.