Iran blames Israel for an airstrike that Tehran said killed a senior advisor in Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) outside Damascus in Syria on Monday.
Reuters said that three security sources confirmed the death of the senior advisor, identified as Sayyed Razi Mousavi. He was responsible for coordinating a military alliance between Iran and Syria.
Death of Revolutionary Guards Senior Advisor
State television also interrupted programming to announce Mousavi's death and described the senior advisor in the IRGC as one of the oldest advisors for the Guard in Syria. The announcement of his death added that Mousavi accompanied Qassem Soleimani, the head of the IRGC's Quds Force, who died in a U.S. drone attack in Iraq in 2020.
Iran's ambassador, Damascus Hossein Akbari said that the late Mousavi was in the embassy as a diplomat and noted that he was killed by missiles that Israel fired after he returned home from work.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that the killing of Mousavi was a show of Israel's weakness, adding that it was a sign of the Zionist regime's frustration in the region for which "it will certainly pay the price," as per Fox News.
The Revolutionary Guards, echoing Raisi's remarks, said that Israel would suffer consequences for the killing of Mousavi. In a statement, the IRGC said that the usurper and savage Zionist regime would "pay for this crime."
The spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, said that Iran Reserves the right to take necessary measures to respond to the action at the appropriate time and place. On the other hand, Israel's military did not immediately respond to requests for comments regarding Mousavi's death.
Israel's attacks on Iran-linked targets in Syria are not new and have been taking place for several years. Ever since the support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Tehran's influence in the country has continued to grow following the civil war in 2011.
Iran Blames Israeli Airstrike
The Israeli airstrike came amid fears that the country's war with the Palestinian armed group Hamas in Gaza could expand into a wider regional conflict. Officials have warned that it has pulled Iran-backed groups such as Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, according to Aljazeera.
Mousavi was allegedly the target of several assassination attempts by Israel, but the latest incident is only the one that succeeded. Israel has repeatedly claimed that the senior advisor was an instrumental figure within the network of arms smuggling from Iran to Syria, to Iraq to Syria, and to end with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
While the Israeli military has not responded to requests for comments regarding the incident, an unnamed Israeli official allegedly said that his country is preparing for retaliation that could include rocket fire from Syria and Lebanon.
The killing of Mousavi comes after earlier this month, Iran claimed that Israeli airstrikes killed two Revolutionary Guards members in Syria who had served as military advisers in the region. Iran is known to have sent hundreds of Guards as "advisers" to help train and organize thousands of Shi'ite militia fighters from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, said Reuters.
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