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Three senior members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were killed on Monday in an air strike on the consular section of Iran’s embassy in Damascus, an attack that Tehran has blamed on Israel.
The death of Brigadier General Mohammad-Reza Zahedi, a prominent commander of the Revolutionary Guards, marks a significant escalation in tensions that have engulfed the region since Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7.
Zahedi, whose killing was confirmed by Iranian state news agencies, was a senior figure in the Quds forces, responsible for the Guards’ overseas operations. While his specific role in Syria has not been specified, he previously commanded Iran’s forces in Lebanon and Syria from 2008 to 2016.
His deputy, Mohammad-Hadi Haji-Rahimi, was among several others killed when the building was struck late on Monday afternoon. Hossein Aminollah, another senior commander of the Quds forces in Syria and Lebanon, was also confirmed dead.
This is the fourth such attack on Tehran’s forces in Syria this year, heightening fears that hostile exchanges across the Middle East could ignite a broader regional conflagration.
Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said the attack on the Iranian consulate “is a violation of all international commitments and conventions”.
In a phone conversation with his Syrian counterpart, Amirabdollahian said the responsibilities for the action lay with Israel, as he called for a “serious reaction from the international community to such criminal acts”.