According to Iranian state media, a senior adviser in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, Sayyad Razi Mousavi, was killed in an Israeli airstrike outside the Syrian capital of Damascus on Monday. Three security sources later confirmed Mousavi’s death to Reuters.
Iran’s state television interrupted its regular programming to announce Mousavi’s death, describing him as a brigadier-general and one of the Guards’ key figures in Syria responsible for coordinating its military alliance with Iran. The Revolutionary Guards' statement, read on air, also portrayed him as a close associate of Qasem Soleimani, the top Iranian general who led the Guards’ elite Quds Force until his death in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq in January 2020.
“Undoubtedly, the usurper and savage Zionist regime will pay for this crime,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said in Monday’s televised statement, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency. “This action is another sign of frustration, helplessness, and inability of the occupying Zionist regime.”
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The Israeli Defense Forces did not provide an immediate comment on Mousavi's death. Reports from local media suggested that Israel was anticipating a potential response from Iran on its northern front, as reported by The Jerusalem Post later on Monday.
Earlier in the current month, Iran leveled accusations against Israel, alleging the killing of two members of the Revolutionary Guards in Syria. Israel's military has been conducting lethal strikes in Syria over the years, aiming to counter what it deems as Iranian "military entrenchment" in the region. The frequency of these strikes has notably increased since the attacks by Hamas on October 7th.
