A top commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force was reportedly killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria on Monday.
‘Major Escalation’: Alleged Israeli Airstrike Kills Top Iranian General In Syria https://t.co/vBGsjN2KR6 pic.twitter.com/91xTRfCjHp
— Daily Wire News (@DailyWireNews) April 1, 2024
According to a report from the Jerusalem Post, Iran accused Israeli F-35s of launching six missiles at a building adjacent to Iran’s embassy in Damascus. The missiles reportedly killed Mohammed Reza Zahedi, the top commander of the Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon.
The attack was launched while Zahedi was reportedly meeting with the leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group in Gaza.
In a post to X, Charles Lister, director of the Syria program of the Washington-based Middle East Institute think tank said that the strike was a “huge development & a major escalation” in the hostilities between Israel and Iran.
Lister also revealed that up to two other IRGC-QF generals got killed in the strike alongside Zahedi. The other two victims who were allegedly killed are Gen. Hossein Aminullah and Maj. Gen. Haj Rahimi.
According to the Syrian state media, at least six people in total were killed in the strike, with several more injured.
Iran has said that the alleged attack constitutes a “flagrant violation of international laws, diplomatic norms, and the requirements of the Vienna Convention.”
The government then threatened a “fierce response” to the attack.
Speaking to The Daily Wire, Joe Truzman, senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a non-partisan institution focusing on national security and foreign policy, the airstrike targeting the top IRGC leaders carried two implications in the hostilities, including “a clear message that Israel will not tolerate violent actions against the Jewish state by the IRGC.”
“Secondly, the decision to strike the Iranian consulate on Syrian soil demonstrates Israel’s willingness to take risks to defend itself despite the high potential for retaliatory actions by Iran or its proxies in the region,” Truzman added.
According to the New York Times, Zahedi is one of the most high-ranking Iranian commanders ever killed by Israel. His death makes the first killing of a top Iranian military official to be allegedly killed by Israel since Hamas’ unprecedented attack against Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel is yet to comment on the attack, as an Israeli military spokesperson said: “We do not comment on reports in the foreign media” when asked about the strike.
