Farhad Dabirian the former commander in Palmyra, Syria and the mayor of a town and a Shiite shrine called Zaynabiya, near Damascus, was assassinated according to Fars news agency in Iran. He was killed on Saturday in Palmyra, however the press outlet did not disclose the circumstances of his death.

Fars published images of Dabirian wearing the uniform of an IRGC commander, next to the representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Syria.

However it should be noted that Fars doesn’t specify if Dabirian was an officer of regular IRGC fighter or a member of the Islamic Republic’s extra-territorial Qods Force – which is often the case for those serving outside of Iran.

Syria’s Human Rights Monitor who is based in London says that Dabirian was close to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and fought against ISIS in Palmyra.

The Monitor stated that he was assassinated in Zaynabiya, without offering further details.