Ali Haghbin; An Iranian General Who Lived Infamously, and Died In Mysterious Circumstances

Mysteriously, the Iranian authorities announced the death of Quds Corps Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Haghbin, known for his military activity in Syria and Iraq, being close to Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed on January 3, 2020, by a U.S. raid near Baghdad International Airport.

Iranian television reported on April 20, 2021, that Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Haghbin, had died of infection with the Coronavirus at his residence in Jilan province in northern Iran, but the media doubted this story.

“Aleppo Butcher”

The news of the death of the Iranian General two days after the death of the Deputy Commander of the Quds Force Brigadier General Mohammed Hijazi raised doubts about the real cause of their death, some media reported that Haghbin was injured in Syria during an Israeli raid and he died later in Iran.

Iranian opposition journalist Mohammad Majid Al-Ahwazi posted a tweet on Twitter on April 20, 2021, saying: “The death of Qasem Soleimani's assistant, known as Aleppo Butcher, Brigadier General Mohammed Ali Haghbin, died mysteriously”.

Al-Ahwazi attached his tweet with a picture (which has not been confirmed) showing the Iranian Brigadier General lying in a hospital, the bandage covers parts of his body, particularly in his feet, indicating injuries, this may refute Iran's account of his death as a result of being infected with the Coronavirus. In the same way, Iranian opposition websites questioned the relationship of the Coronavirus, with bandages and plastic covering the legs and neck of Iranian General Haghbin.

Opposition websites noted that the last interview with Haghbin was published on April 16, 2021, it was with the “Tasnim” news agency, which is close to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, a week before the announcement of his death.

Haghbin said in the interview as “a head of the combat section specialized in the Deputy Revolutionary Educational Guard”: “We face the enemy at all levels, Iran is at the height of deterrence, and the enemy does not even think about attacking”.

Websites noted that: “Of course, it is not clear what the exact date of this interview, but based on the issues and allegations which were raised, it must have been closed from the publishing time”.

The last Israeli attack on Iranian Quds Force bases and IRGC-backed militias in Syria was April 8, 2021, two weeks before Haghbin was declared “killed”, according to opposition websites.

Suppressor for the Opponents

A few years ago, Brigadier Haghbin occupied the command of “Quds 16” Division in the Revolutionary Guard in Jilan province in northern Iran, then appointed adviser to the Commander of the Revolutionary Guard Ground Force, and Commander of the Central Headquarters of Imam Hussein of the Ground Guard Force.

The General participated in the Revolutionary Guard during the Iran-Iraq war, which lasted 8 years in the 1980s, between 1 million and 2 million people on both sides were killed, according to a BBC report published on 22 September 2020.

Brigadier Haghbin, who had suffered many wounds in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war period, as well as in the war on the Syrian territory, according to Iranian websites, He defends the “shrines of the people of the household”. Iranian opposition media reported on April 20, 2021, that Haghbin played a role in suppressing opponents of the Regime in Iran's Kurdistan regions in 1983.

According to the “Tasnim” News Agency reported from “the Site of the Center for Documentation and Research for Sacred Defense” on April 20, 2021, that Muhammad Ali Haghbin, as called “Jilani”, was born in the village of Tazah Abad in Langroud in 1966.

In the spring of 1982, when he was 16 years old, Haghbin became a member of the 25th Karbala Brigade as a relief worker, then gradually became the brigade as a combat force, then in 1983 he joined in the Revolutionary Guard, in addition to his role in the “Quds Brigade Jilan” as commander of the “Ammar Regiment”, and he involved in various operations to "Cleansing Kurdistan" and several external tasks, according to the report.

From late 1985 to the beginning of 1988, he occupied as deputy commander of a full battalion ordered by the Quds Force, and then he became responsible for the operations of the second division, a year and a half later he became the responsible of the brigade's headquarters, this position continued until 2001, during this period and with the General's activity in Kurdistan, stable security has returned to Kurdistan.

After their success in controlling large areas, Iranian forces launched a large-scale offensive against the strongholds of Kurdish rebel in the spring of 1980, and had arrested and executed a large number of members of both parties, however, the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war in September of that year gave a new impetus to the revolution, especially after the Iraqi government supported and embraced the rebels, and then the positions of Kurdish rebels fell gradually, and groups of them continued to carry out sporadic attacks until this revolution ended in late 1983, some 1,200 Kurdish political prisoners were executed in the final period of the revolution.

Soleimani's Companion

From 2003 to 2007, Haghbin occupied the logistics responsibilities of the division, and the succession and leadership of the Brigade respectively, in 2007 with the Brigade's promotion to the division, he was appointed as commander of the Quds Infantry Division in Jilan, he occupied the position for 10 years.

In 2012, Haghbin was able to lead the army with the help of combat units for 5 years, and forceed groups of the Kurdistan “Free Life Party” and the Kurdistan “Workers' Party” to retreat, after they captured some villages in Iran in the north-western region of Urmiyeye.

Iranian television reported that Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Haghbin, he is one of the senior advisers in Syria and Iraq, fought alongside the former Commander of the Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani.

He stated that Haghbin is the “conqueror” of the villages of Nubl and Al-Zahra in northern Syria, and said that Brigadier Haghbin was the “companion” of former the Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, he has militarily managed the forces of the Resistance Front (Iranian militias) inside Syria and Iraq during the past years.

Iran's military attention in 2016 focused on the towns of Nubl and Al-Zahra, as Shiites, in addition they are towns adjacent to the highway linking Aleppo to Azaz town on the border with Turkey, which was controlled by the Syrian opposition.

Mohammad Ali Haghbin is considered one of the senior advisers of the commander of the ground forces in the Revolutionary Guard, he is a leading weighing figure in the Quds Force and the Revolutionary Guard, according to what Iranian television reported.

“Tasnim” reported that after the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, the Quds Force in Jilan was tasked with fighting opposition forces in Syria, the major operation of this division was on February 4, 2016, under the name “Victory 2”, when the division's fighters regained control of Nubl and Al-Zahra Shia, after 4 years of the siege, they released 55,000 Shiites who were under the siege.