Iran sent intelligence officer to replace Mughniyeh - Italian newspaper

Iran has sent an intelligence agency officer, Mohammad Rida Zahidi, to replace Hizbullah's top military commander Imad Mughniyeh who was assassinated in Damascus in February, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported on Thursday. The paper added that Zahidi, who is nicknamed "Hassan Mahdawy," will coordinate between Hizbullah and the Syrian intelligence agencies, help build new locations in South Lebanon for military training and ensure the flow of weapons to Hizbullah. Lebanese sources told the paper that Zahidi was responsible for the committee in charge of protecting Tehran's major figures and was the second secretary in the Iranian Embassy in Lebanon between 1998 and 2000. In a separate development, Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's much-promised retaliation for the assassination of Mughniyeh is reportedly... [read full story]