Iran says one of its generals died after accidentally shooting himself in the head

AP Photo/Vahid Salemi

• Gen. Ghodratollah Mansouri, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, shot himself in the head while cleaning his pistol, the Revolutionary Guard reported Sunday.

• The general is said to have fought against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, where hundreds of Iranian forces have been killed fighting ISIS.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A Revolutionary Guard general who fought in Syria and Iraq has accidentally killed himself while cleaning a gun.

A Sunday report on the Guard's website said Gen. Ghodratollah Mansouri earlier today accidentally shot himself in the head while cleaning his pistol.

The report said Mansouri was veteran of the 1980s Iran-Iraq war and a "defender of the shrine," a reference to Iranians who fight the extremist Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

Since 2014, Mansouri was a regional commander of the Guard's ground forces in the northeastern city of Mashhad, some 900 kilometers east of the capital Tehran.

Hundreds of Iranian forces have been killed fighting IS in Syria and Iraq.

Iran, the regional key supporter of Syria's government, says its forces there only perform an advisory role.

See Also:

• Can we talk? Ugandans try to coax longtime leader to leave

• May to argue 2nd referendum would violate public trust

• Indian troops enforce lockdown to foil Kashmir public march