Iranian pilot killed fighting in Iraq — state media

TEHRAN — An Iranian pilot has been killed while fighting in Iraq, state media reported Saturday, in what is thought to be Tehran’s first military casualty during battles against Islamic State jihadists.

Iran’s official IRNA news agency did not say whether the pilot died while flying sorties or fighting on the ground.

It said Colonel Shoja’at Alamdari Mourjani was killed while “defending” Shiite Muslim holy sites in the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad.

His death comes after Iran’s declarations that it will provide its western neighbour with whatever it needs to counter the Sunni militants who are laying siege to the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki.

Samarra is a major flashpoint in the fighting and is home to the Shiite Al Askari shrine which was bombed by Al Qaeda in February 2006, sparking a bloody Sunni-Shiite sectarian war that killed tens of thousands.

The reports of the pilot’s death came as Iranian officials insist their assistance is not in the form of troops, but rather of weapons and equipment if Iraq asks for them.

President Hassan Rouhani vowed last month that Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, would protect Shiite holy sites in Iraq, including in Samarra.

The Fars news agency appeared to confirm the IRNA report, publishing photos of a funeral service for the pilot on Friday in his home province of Fars, in southern Iran.

Fars did not give any details, but hinted that Alamdari Mourjani was a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, whose elite Quds Force is believed to be on the ground and assisting Iraqi forces, despite Tehran’s denials.