Iran accused Israel of assassinating 5 of its advisors Revolutionary Guards In an air strike on a suburb of the Syrian capital, Damascus, today, Saturday, it vowed to respond “at the appropriate time and place.”
The five advisors were killed as a result of what the official Syrian news agency described as an Israeli air aggression targeting a residential building in the Mezzeh neighborhood in Damascus.
The new assassination occurred 25 days after a similar raid targeted a building in the Sayyida Zeinab area in the Damascus countryside, resulting in the killing of the prominent military advisor in Quds Force In the Revolutionary Guard Reza Mousavi.
In a statement published by its spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, hours after the air strike, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that this assassination reveals the close relationship between Israel and what it described as terrorist groups.
The statement strongly condemned what it called “the criminal act carried out by the Zionist entity,” and said that the repeated Israeli violations of Syrian sovereignty are “a desperate attempt to spread instability and insecurity in the region.”
It stated, “In addition to the political, legal and international prosecution of these aggressive and criminal acts, the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right to respond to the organized terrorism of the false Zionist entity at the appropriate time and place.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry also said that the escalation of what it described as aggressive and provocative attacks against various targets in Syria reflects Israel’s inability and despair on the battlefield against the resistance force in Gaza and the West Bank during the past 100 days.
The statement called on the Security Council, states, and regional institutions to take clear positions in the face of what it called Israel’s aggressive violations, noting that “Iranian advisory forces” are present in Syria at the invitation of the Syrian government.
After the killing of Brigadier General Radhi Mousavi in an Israeli raid on the Sayyida Zeinab area near Damascus late last month, Tehran also hinted at responding at the appropriate time and place, and Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen acknowledged Tel Aviv’s responsibility for Mousavi’s assassination.
Assassination of advisors
Earlier today, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced the death of 4 of its military advisors in the Mezzeh area in Damascus, and later confirmed the death of a fifth advisor who succumbed to his wounds.
The Revolutionary Guard published the names of the four advisors who were killed immediately: Hojatollah Omidwar, Ali Aqazadeh, Hossein Mohammadi, and Saeed Karimi, noting that two Syrian soldiers were killed in the air strike.
Iranian media reported that among the dead were a Syria Square intelligence official in the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force and his deputy.
Sources told Al Jazeera in Damascus that the targeted building located near the Political Security Division had completely collapsed.
Regarding the circumstances of the assassination, the Syrian News Agency said that at 10:20 a.m. local time, Israel carried out an air attack on a residential building in the Mezzeh neighborhood, resulting in “the martyrdom of a number of people.”
The agency added that Syrian air defenses responded to the attack and shot down a number of Israeli missiles.
In the reactions, she condemned the movement Islamic jihad The Palestinian Authority called what it called the Israeli aggression that targeted leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Damascus.
The movement said – in a statement – that “this step expresses the occupation’s attempt to export its military failure by expanding the scope of the war,” as it put it.
Since 2015, a number of Revolutionary Guard leaders and members have been killed in Syria as a result of Israeli attacks, the most recent of whom was Brigadier General Radhi Mousavi. During this period, Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syria as part of a military strategy to undermine the Iranian military presence there.
