Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander killed in reported Israeli airstrike
The senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was killed Monday when an Israeli airstrike hit the Syrian capital, destroying a section of the Iranian Embassy.
The Saudi Al-Arabiya news network and Reuters confirmed that IRGC chief Mohammad Reza Zahedi was in Damascus’ Mezzeh district when an alleged Israeli airstrike hit a building near the Iranian Embassy.
The building was left in rubble, with smoke rising from the remains as first responders arrived and listed at least six people, including Zahedi, among the dead, according to state outlets.
Syrian state media said an Israeli airstrike destroyed the consular section of Iran’s embassy in Damascus, killing or wounding everyone inside. Iran claimed seven people died in the strike.
The IDF has yet to comment on the attack or claim responsibility.
Zahedi, who had been sanctioned in 2010 for serving as a liaison with Hezbollah terrorists and smuggling weapons into Lebanon, was in the area to meet with leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to Iranian state media.
The Iranian Embassy in Lebanon slammed Monday’s airstrike and accused Israel of committing a war crime, the Jerusalem Post reports.
“This barbaric Israeli aggression is a flagrant violation of international laws, diplomatic norms, and the requirements of the Vienna Convention,” the embassy said in a statement.
Since Hamas, an Iranian-backed terror group, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, the Jewish state has carried out an intermittent bombardment campaign against Hezbollah and the IRGC.
On Friday, Israel launched its deadliest attack against the groups, killing Ali Abed Akhsan Naim, deputy commander of Hezbollah’s rocket and missiles unit in Lebanon.
Naim was allegedly responsible for conducting and planning the rocket fire that has forced tens of thousands to evacuate from northern Israel amid the conflict along the northern border, Israel says.
Naim’s death came as Syria’s defense ministry reported Israeli airstrikes in Aleppo, which allegedly killed several military personnel and civilians.
Israel’s growing airstrikes in Syria have prompted Iran to withdraw some of its top officers from the country.
With Post wires
