Tehran blamed Israel for the death of Razi Moussavi on the outskirts of Damascus. A member of the fundamentalist regime’s Revolutionary Guard was coordinating a military alliance between Syria and Iran.
(DW) A general from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was killed on Monday (25/12) in an attack in Syria. The fundamentalist regime in Tehran accused Israel of carrying out the attack and promised to make the country “pay” for what it called a “crime”.
According to Iranian state media, General Razi Moussavi was “one of the most experienced advisors” of the Quds Force, a special unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Israel has not yet commented on the accusations, but the Tel Aviv government has said on other occasions that it would not allow arch-foe Iran to expand its presence in Syria.
Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, expressed condolences over Moussavi’s death, saying that Israel “will certainly pay for this crime”. The general “was killed during an attack by the Zionist regime a few hours ago in the Zeinabiyah district on the outskirts of Damascus,” the official Iranian news agency Irna reported.
According to the agency, Moussavi was “active in the field of providing logistical support to the axis of resistance in Syria”, pointing out that he was a coordinator of the military alliance between Tehran and the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
In a statement, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said that Moussavi was killed in a “missile attack” and also vowed to avenge his death.
General was close to commander killed by US in 2020
The statement also pointed out that Moussavi had collaborated in the past with General Qassem Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force, who was killed in Baghdad in a drone strike carried out by the US in 2020.
Next week, Iran will mark the fourth anniversary of Soleimani’s death. Moussavi is now the most senior Quds Force general killed since then.
Iran’s state TV said that Moussavi was targeted by “three missiles” and showed images of smoke coming from the area of the attack.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Israeli attacks on positions held by Iranian groups and the Lebanon-based, Tehran-aligned Hisbollah group in the Sayyida Zeinab area.
Residents reported hearing loud explosions and seeing columns of smoke coming from farms in the area.
Since the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes against its northern neighbor, mainly targeting Iranian-backed forces and Hisbollah fighters, as well as Syrian army positions.
On December 2, the Revolutionary Guard accused Israel of killing two of its members in Syria, where the force said they were on an advisory mission, without providing further details.
Israel, which rarely comments on reported attacks in Syria, has recently stepped up operations in the country, especially against Hisbollah, since the start of its war against Hamas – also backed by Iran – triggered by the Palestinian terrorist group’s attacks on October 7.
Iran, which supports Hamas financially and militarily, hailed the terrorist attacks in southern Israel as a “success”, but denied any direct involvement.
jps (AFP, ots)