Prime Iranian commander killed in suspected Israeli strike on Syria, say officers

A high Iranian commander has been killed in a suspected Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Syria, in response to Lebanese safety officers.

Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), was killed within the assault on the constructing in Damascus, in response to Reuters information company.

Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, a deputy commander within the Quds Drive, was additionally killed alongside 5 different officers, the IRGC mentioned.

Israel, which has repeatedly hit Iranian targets in the course of the six-month battle in Gaza, declined to touch upon the incident, first reported by Iranian state TV.

An Israeli army spokesperson mentioned: “We don’t touch upon stories within the international media.”

The IRGC blamed Israel for the strike, as did Iran’s international ministry, which labelled it an “abhorrent” and “brutal” assault and vowed revenge.

Iran’s international minister Hossein Amirabdollahian referred to as the strike “a breach of all worldwide conventions”. A spokesperson for the ministry informed Iranian state TV that Tehran would determine on the kind of “response and punishment towards the aggressor”.

Syria’s international minister Faisal Mekdad, who later attended the scene, mentioned his nation “strongly condemns this atrocious terrorist assault that focused the Iranian consulate constructing in Damascus and killed plenty of innocents”.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan additionally condemned the assault, whereas Hamas – which is backed by Iran – mentioned it condemned the strike “within the strongest phrases”.

Guardsman Brigadier Normal Zahedi was a number one determine in its elite Quds Drive – a unit specialising in army intelligence and unconventional warfare.

He was a mid-ranking commander in the course of the Iran-Iraq battle, having joined the IRGC two years after the revolution of 1979.

Having beforehand served as a commander within the Revolutionary Guard’s floor forces, he served as the top of the Quds Drive in Syria and Lebanon till 2015.

For the reason that Iranian-backed Palestinian faction Hamas’ assault on Israel on 7 October, Israel has ramped up airstrikes in Syria towards Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia and Iran’s Guards, each of which help the federal government of President Bashar al-Assad.

The Quds Drive’s goal is to export Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution overseas. The US assassinated the previous head of the Quds Drive, Qassem Solemaini, in January 2020.

Consultants say Yemen’s Houthis, together with Gaza’s Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, type a part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” – a army alliance constructed over 4 many years to oppose Israeli and American energy within the Center East.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah, probably the most highly effective group within the axis, has 100,000 fighters, has exchanged fireplace with Israeli forces since Hamas went to battle with Israel and greater than 70 of its fighters have been killed.