The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) senior commander was among the eleven individuals killed when Israeli warplanes demolished the Iranian consulate in Damascus. Iran has pledged to exact revenge for this incident.
Tehran’s top officials vowed to take severe action after characterizing the late-Monday attack on a diplomatic facility as unprecedented.
Iran Reports Assassination of High-Ranking Officials and Diplomats
Together with Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Zahedi’s deputy, Gen. Haji Rahimi, numerous long-serving diplomats were reportedly also assassinated, according to Iran.
Moreover, it was stated that one of the victims was Brig Gen Hossein Amirollah, who headed the al-Quds force in Syria and Lebanon.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, located in the UK, the strike claimed the lives of eleven people. Hossein Akbari, Iran’s ambassador to Syria, Iran will respond to the strike “at the same magnitude and harshness.”
A former employee of the adjacent embassy Akbari declared that Iran had no fear of the Israeli government and will keep up its assistance for the Palestinians in Gaza. But Iran will be put to the test by this strike, as it will feel compelled to react even as it strives to keep itself out of a full-scale open dispute with Israel.
Images shown by Iran’s main television network showed smoke billowing from the entirely destroyed building’s debris. Amidst the rubble, an Iranian flag was suspended from a pole. Masonry had fallen, causing damage to cars nearby.
Though it was carried out before the most recent battle in Gaza, Israel has carried out a series of daring strikes on the military leaders of Syria and Iran in Lebanon and Syria.
An influential member of Iran’s military leadership was eliminated in the attack on Monday afternoon. In addition to being a key player in Tehran’s dealings with Hezbollah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Zahedi oversaw elements of the Guards’ covert paramilitary and foreign intelligence branch, the al-Quds force, in Lebanon and Syria.
The US placed sanctions on Zahedi as long ago as 2010, and he would have been important to the flow of weapons manufactured in Iran to Hezbollah.
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Iran’s Perception of Escalating Hostilities
In 2019, he was involved in quelling protests in Iran while serving as the commander of the country’s air force and ground forces.
The foreign minister of Syria, Faisal Mekdad, promised that Israeli forces would not be able to sour relations with Iran while on a visit to the bombing site on Monday.
Following Hamas’s attack on October 7, there has been a noticeable uptick in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah along the Israeli-Lebanon border. Additionally, violent strikes by Iranian-backed militias against US and Israeli sites in Iraq have resumed.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Israeli bombings in Syria last Friday claimed the lives of 53 persons, including seven Hezbollah members and 38 troops. Since the Israel-Hamas conflict started in October, the monitor added, the number of Syrian army casualties from Israeli attacks has been the highest.
A drone that appeared to have been fired from Iraq bombed a building in a naval installation in the southernmost city of Israel, Eilat, early on Monday morning, prompting some to believe that the strike was in retaliation. On Israel’s hit list, however, Zahedi would have been for a while.
Although Iran’s media did not try to conceal the death of such a high-ranking official, Israel often stays silent about its assassination strikes.
Sayed Reza Musawi was the head of logistics for the IGRC in the Levant, and he was assassinated last year by Israel.
In response to reports of attacks on the Iranian diplomatic mission, the US stated that it was aware of the events but declined to comment. Concerned about the reports, the UN stated that it would provide further details later.
Israeli bombings in Syria have been numerous, with a particular emphasis on the passage of weapons, according to Ali Vaez, senior adviser at the International Crisis Group.
Although such incidents were more the exception than the usual, direct targeting of IRGC troops did occur. The attack that happened today is noteworthy for the people who died as well as the location.
Iran may view the airstrike as an escalation of hostilities against its soil, which would be the longer-term importance of the episode.
Tehran is probably going to be keeping a tight eye on the US response, as well as any indications that President Joe Biden approved of the strike or was just informed when it started. The United States has designated the al-Quds force as a terrorist organization; yet, American diplomats have been exerting great effort to prevent the Gaza war from intensifying into a more extensive confrontation between Iran and Israel.
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