TEHRAN: Iran on Saturday blamed Israel for a deadly strike on Damascus, saying it “reserves the right to respond” after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed four of its members had died. The strike, which targeted the Mazzeh neighborhood in Damascus, resulted in the death of 10 persons, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The IRGC confirmed the loss of four members and declared Iran’s “right to respond” at an appropriate time and place.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani condemned what he described as “frequent violations of Syria’s sovereignty” by Israel and an escalation in aggressive actions. Kanani asserted that Iran reserves the right to respond and accused Israel of attempting to spread instability and insecurity in the region.
The strike also killed four military advisers, one of whom was identified as the Revolutionary Guard’s spy chief for Syria, as reported by Iran’s Mehr news agency.
Tensions have been escalating in the region, with Israel facing accusations of intensified strikes on senior Iranian and resistance groups in Syria and Lebanon, supporters of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas. There are growing concerns that the conflict in Gaza could further expand throughout the region.
Iran claimed that Israeli military actions showed the “weakness and desperation” of its forces on the battlefield. This latest incident occurred just four days after the Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for an attack on what they referred to as “an Israeli intelligence headquarters” in Arbil, the capital of Iraq’s northern autonomous province of Kurdistan. The Iraqi authorities reported that the attack resulted in the death of four civilians and injured six others.
Deputy Commander of Iran’s IRGC Killed in Israeli Attack on Damascus
Brigadier General Sadegh Omidzadeh, the deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s (IRGC) Quds Force, was reported killed as a result of an Israeli attack on Syria’s capital, Damascus, Trend reports. According to Trend, the information was confirmed by a source from the pro-IRGC social network.
The Israeli attack, reportedly carried out by fighter jets on the morning of January 20, resulted in the death of several IRGC members, including General Omidzadeh.
An Israeli airstrike on Damascus destroyed a building Saturday, official media outlets reported without giving details on casualties.
State-TV stated that the “Israeli aggression” targeted a residential compound in the western Damascus neighborhood of Mazzeh. The neighborhood is home to various diplomatic missions, including the Iranian and Lebanese embassies.
Reuters reported that the Israeli attack on Saturday had killed a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and injured others. According to Reuters, the multi-story building was used by Iranians, and it was completely flattened.
Similarly, AFP reported that at least five were killed in the attack. Other local media in Syria stated explosions were heard across Damascus. The attack comes amid widening tensions in the region and the Israeli attacks on Gaza that have killed thousands.
Last month, an Israeli attack on a suburb of Damascus killed Iranian general Seyed Razi Mousavi, a longtime adviser of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in the country.
Israel has conducted hundreds of attacks on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in the last several years.
Israel rarely admits its actions in Syria, but it has said that it targets bases of Iran-backed militant groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Over the past several weeks, rockets have also been fired from Syria into northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, further adding to tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border and assaults on ships in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi group.
