A high-ranking general of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Monday in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
A report by Iranian state media said Sayyed Razi Mousavi died after Israel struck the Sayida Zeinab neighbourhood, located near a Shiite Muslim shrine, in Damascus.
Iran's state television announced that Mousavi was posted at the embassy as a diplomat and was killed by Israeli missiles after returning home from work. Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi vowed that Israel "will certainly pay for this crime." He added that the assassination of Mousavi showed weakness on the part of Israel. "This act is a sign of the Zionist regime's frustration and weakness in the region for which it will certainly pay the price," Iranian media cited Raisi as saying.
Neither the Israeli military nor Syrian state media immediately issued a statement about the attack. "I am not referring to this or that operation in the Middle East reported by non-Israeli media," said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. chief spokesman of the Israel Defense Forces. "The I.D.F. has a role, of course: to protect and safeguard the security interests of the state of Israel".
Israel's traditional stance has always been not to acknowledge the strikes it carried out on Syria. Its forces has allegedly carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years.
However, the IDF has been on high alert since Sunday as it expects the possible use of rockets or drones launched from Syria and Lebanon. More road closures were also expected in northern Israel, where some routes had already been shut down because of the fighting with Hezbollah.
Close aide of Soleimani
Iranian representatives said Mousavi was a close companion of Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force who was slain in a US drone strike in Iraq in January 2020. One of the IRGC's oldest advisers in Syria, Mousavi has been among those accompanying Qassem Soleimani. The state media also published a photograph of him and General Suleimani posing close together.
According to Israeli media, Mousavi was responsible for coordinating the military alliance between Iran and Syria. The Israeli defence also believes him to be involved in Tehran’s efforts to supply weapons to terror proxies in the area, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group.
He is also said to have lived in Syria for 30 years and had his own office inside the Syrian Defense Ministry.