Iranian news outlet Iran International reported Wednesday on the mysterious assassination of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG) moneyman Muhammad Ibrahim Surur in Lebanon, writing, “The assassins forced him to reveal his smartphone’s password, shot him and escaped.”
Surur was found shot dead earlier this month in Beit Mery, a town east of the capital Beirut. Contact with him was severed the day before the assassination, and reports of his death noted that Israel had accused him of transferring funds from Iran to Gaza and bodies collaborating with Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah.
According to the website associated with the Iranian opposition, new information has emerged indicating his death was allegedly caused by Mossad's assassination unit. The report noted that several days before his body was discovered, a woman named Zainab approached him and asked for his assistance in delivering $14,000 from Iraq to Lebanon. According to her, the money was intended to pay the rent for the villa where he was later found dead.
The day before his death, Zainab called his home but hung up when he didn't answer. When she called again, his daughter answered and relayed the call to him. According to her, he replied, "Not here," and later asked Zainab how she got his phone number. The woman assured him when she mentioned a mutual acquaintance.
Surur went to the villa accompanied by his nephew, and Zainab spoke to him through the door. According to the nephew's testimony, as reported on the website, the woman had a Lebanese accent.
The following day, she called again and said that she required his services once again after additional funds had been deposited into her account. This time, Surur went by himself, and Lebanese security services revealed that both his and Zainab's cell phones were off during their stay at the villa.
The investigation also revealed the villa had been rented by a "hit squad" for a year. They paid an upfront sum of 48,000 lira through a broker agency. Additionally, it’s alleged that the person who handled the money transfers with the agency had a Syrian accent and was one of the members of the hit quad made up of Lebanese and Syrian nationals.
The members of the unit questioned Surur for forty minutes, later unloading nine gun rounds into him. According to testimonies, "they forced him to give up his phone password, and that's how they managed to find details about his contacts with Hamas and Hezbollah. Then they shot him and fled."
Initial reports of Surur’s death noted that the weapons used for the murder were found in the kitchen, having been cleaned with detergents to remove fingerprints. Iran International added the shooters used two personal Glock 19 pistols equipped with silencers. The clothing and gloves used were left behind and soaked in the same material to avoid leaving behind DNA traces.
Surur’s body was found five days after his death, with $6,500 in cash in his possession. The money was apparently meant to clarify to the local police that the incident wasn’t a robbery, but the body’s location allowed those involved to escape from Lebanon before the investigation began. Lebanon’s General Directorate of General Security noted that Zainab and her associates left the country less than 24 hours after the assassination.