Middle East conflict
Iranian general killed in explosion in Syria
The destroyed building on the grounds of the Iranian embassy in Damascus. photo
© Hummam Sheikh Ali/XinHua/dpa
Israel repeatedly attacks Iranian targets. Now, for the second time, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general appears to have been killed in Syria in a suspected Israeli attack.
In a suspected Israeli airstrike in the Syrian capital According to information from Tehran, a general from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) has been killed in Damascus. Mohammad Reza Sahedi, a brigadier general in the IRGC’s foreign unit, was killed, Iran’s state broadcaster reported.
Iran blames Israel for the deadly attack on the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus. Sahedi was responsible for operations in Syria and Lebanon, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that seven more members of the Revolutionary Guard were killed.
Syria responds to attack
According to the Syrian state news agency Sana, the explosion targeted the consular section immediately next to the Iranian embassy building. Accordingly, the entire building was destroyed. Images on social media showed heavy smoke and debris next to the main Iranian embassy building. The Syrian air defense responded to the attack and shot down some missiles, it said.
According to Iranian state television, the residence of Ambassador Hussein Akbari was located on the ground floor of the affected part of the building. However, the diplomat and his family were unharmed, it was said. No employees were likely to have been there because of a religious holiday.
Israel’s air force repeatedly bombs targets in neighboring Syria in an attempt to prevent Iran and its allied militias such as the Lebanese Hezbollah from expanding their military influence in the country. Attacks have increased since the Gaza war began almost six months ago. Targets near Damascus were already bombed on Sunday.
On Friday, more than 50 people were killed in heavy air strikes in northwest Syria’s Aleppo province. According to the Observatory for Human Rights, most of the victims were Syrian military personnel. Members of the Shiite Hezbollah militia were also among the victims, it was said. However, such high numbers of victims as a result of suspected Israeli air strikes are rare
At the end of December, Iranian General Sejed-Rasi Mousavi, a senior IRGC member, was killed in a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus in a suspected Israeli airstrike. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responded in mid-January with massive rocket attacks in retaliation against targets in Syria and Iraq. The rockets flew around 1,200 kilometers. This was also interpreted by observers as a clear signal to Israel. It would be roughly the same distance that rockets from the west of the country would need to reach Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.