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Tehran has vowed a robust retaliatory response to the deadly Israeli airstrike on its consulate in Syrian capital Damascus which left seven Iranian officials, including two top commanders of its elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) dead.
In an official statement, IRGC said two of its senior commanders, Mohammed Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, were killed in the lethal strike.
Zahedi was a top commander in the Quds Force of the IRGC who was reportedly meeting with the leaders of Gaza-based militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad at the time of the Israeli airstrike, The Jerusalem Post reported, citing Iranian state media.
Zahedi commanded the Quds Force’s Unit 18000 and was allegedly responsible for “smuggling ammunition and precision weapons into Lebanon” The Jerusalem Post claimed in its report.
In the past, Zahedi had also commanded the IRGC’s Air Force and Imam Hussein Division.
The second IRGC commander, Haji Rahimi, described as a coordinator for the Quds Force, was also slain in the attack on Iran’s consulate building in Damascus.
The other officials named in the statement include Hossein Aman Elahi, Mehdi Jalalati, Mohsen Sedaghat, Ali Aghababaee, and Ali Salehi Roozbahani, CNN reported.
The attack, which rocked the Syrian capital, has left Iran reeling and vowing a robust response. Iran has alleged that Israeli forces carried out the strike using F-35 warplanes.
Hossein Akbari, the Iranian ambassador in Damascus, condemned the assault as a violation of international laws and vowed that Iran would respond decisively.
“This is perhaps the first time that the Zionist regime allows itself to attack an official building of the Islamic Republic of Iran embassy, which had the flag of the Islamic Republic raised on top of it,” Akbari asserted.
Responding to Iran’s allegations, Israel did not provide a direct comment on the Damascus strike, however, an Israeli military spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari disputed Tehran’s description of the targeted building.
Admiral Hagari claimed that the target was not a consulate or embassy but rather a military structure of belonging to Iran’s Quds Force disguised as a civilian facility in Damascus.
Meanwhile, amid heightened tensions between the two enemy nations, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanaani, affirmed that Iran reserves the right to retaliate and will determine the nature of its response to the aggression.
(With inputs from agencies)
