Damascus: The Israeli airstrike that obliterated Iran’s consulate in Syria resulted in the deaths of two Iranian generals and five officers, as confirmed by Iranian officials. This strike marks a significant escalation in Israel’s targeting of military figures affiliated with Iran, which provides support to militant groups engaged in conflict with Israel in Gaza and along its border with Lebanon.
Over the past six months, since the commencement of the war in Gaza, confrontations have intensified between Israel and Hezbollah militants, backed by Iran and based in Lebanon. Hamas, governing Gaza, also enjoys Iranian backing and launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Israel, typically reticent about acknowledging strikes against Iranian assets, refrained from commenting on the recent Syrian attack. However, a military spokesperson attributed a drone strike on an Israeli naval base early Monday to Iran.
Israel’s patience has waned amidst ongoing skirmishes with Hezbollah, which have heightened in recent days, prompting warnings of potential full-scale warfare. Additionally, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have launched long-range missiles toward Israel, including an attack on Monday.
The airstrike in Syria on Monday claimed the lives of Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, former leader of the elite Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria until 2016, along with his deputy, Gen Mohammad Hadi Hajriahimi, and five other officers, as reported by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. The attack also resulted in the death of Hussein Youssef, a Hezbollah member, according to a spokesperson for the militant group who spoke on the condition of anonymity in accordance with group policy. The spokesperson did not publicly announce the casualty.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in Britain, reported two Syrian fatalities in the attack. Among the wounded were two police officers who guarded the consulate, with first responders still engaged in the search for bodies amidst the rubble.
While the consular building was razed in the attack, according to Syria’s state news agency, the primary embassy building remained unscathed. Nevertheless, the Iranian ambassador’s residence was situated within the consulate. Iran’s ambassador, Hossein Akbari, pledged retaliation of equal magnitude and severity for the strike.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian militant group supported by Iran, accused Israel of attempting to escalate the conflict in Gaza. Experts unanimously anticipate retaliatory action from Iran, considering the magnitude of the escalation. Charles Lister, a Syria expert at the Middle East Institute in Washington, characterized the strike in Syria as a significant escalation on the social media platform X.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, urged other nations to condemn the attack. Over the years, Israel has targeted numerous Iranian-affiliated sites in Syria, purportedly to disrupt arms transfers and other collaborations with Hezbollah, which has deployed thousands of fighters to bolster Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.
An Israeli airstrike in a Damascus neighborhood in December claimed the life of a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard advisor to Syria, Seyed Razi Mousavi. A similar strike in January on a building in Damascus resulted in the deaths of at least five Iranian advisors. Last week, an Iranian advisor was killed in airstrikes over the eastern Syrian province of Deir el-Zour, near the Iraqi border.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, chief spokesman for Israel’s army, attributed a drone attack on an Israeli naval base in southern Israel on Monday to Iran, confirming no casualties. Early Tuesday, the Israeli military reported an attempted weapon launch from Syria toward Israel, which failed to reach its intended target.