Israeli Airstrike Kills Senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards Adviser Sayyed Razi Mousavi

On Monday, an Israeli airstrike outside the Syrian capital Damascus resulted in the death of a senior adviser in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, as reported by three security sources and Iranian state media.

According to Reuters, the adviser, identified as Sayyed Razi Mousavi, held the responsibility of coordinating the military alliance between Syria and Iran.

Responding to a reporter’s question at a nightly press conference, IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari stated, “I won’t comment on foreign reports, these or others in the Middle East. The Israeli military obviously has a job to protect the security interests of Israel.”

Iran’s state television interrupted its regular news broadcast to announce Mousavi’s death, describing him as one of the Guards’ most senior advisers in Syria. He was noted to have been “among those accompanying Qassem Soleimani,” the head of the Guards’ elite Quds Force, who was killed in a US drone attack in Iraq in 2020.

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Iran’s ambassador in Damascus, Hossein Akbari, informed Iranian state TV that Mousavi, posted at the embassy as a diplomat, was killed by Israeli missiles after returning home from work.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi condemned the assassination, asserting that it demonstrated weakness on the part of Israel. He stated, “This act is a sign of the Zionist regime’s frustration and weakness in the region for which it will certainly pay the price.”

The Revolutionary Guards, declaring that Israel would face consequences for killing Mousavi, issued a statement on state TV, saying, “The usurper and savage Zionist regime will pay for this crime.”

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani mentioned that “Iran reserves the right to take necessary measures to respond to this action at the appropriate time and place.”

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group condemned Mousavi’s killing as a “cowardly act,” highlighting his crucial role in supporting the resistance in the region and the Palestinian cause.

As of now, Israel’s military has not provided an immediate comment. Israel has a history of conducting strikes against what it identifies as Iran-linked targets in Syria, where Tehran’s influence has increased since supporting President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war that began in 2011. Earlier in the month, Iran reported Israeli strikes that killed two Revolutionary Guards members serving as military advisers in Syria. Iran has deployed hundreds of Guards as advisers to train and organize Shiite militia fighters from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan in support of the Syrian government. Additionally, fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah have closely collaborated with Iranian military commanders in Syria.