The Iranian military adviser Mohammad Reza Zahedi killed in the air strike led the elite Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria until 2016.
ADVERTISEMENTIran and one of its key proxies vowed on Tuesday to respond to a strike widely attributed to Israel that demolished Iran's consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
The attack killed seven people, including two Iranian generals and five officers, Syrian and Iranian officials said on Monday.
Israel has repeatedly targeted military officials from Iran, which supports militant groups fighting Israel in Gaza, and along its border with Lebanon. Monday’s strike in Damascus signalled an escalation because it struck an Iranian diplomatic mission.
It was not clear if Iran would respond itself, risking a dangerous confrontation with Israel and its ally the United States, or if it would continue to rely on proxies, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The airstrike in Syria killed Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who led the elite Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria until 2016, according to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. It also killed Zahedi’s deputy, Gen. Mohammad Hadi Hajriahimi, and five other officers.
Hezbollah said Tuesday that Zahedi played a crucial role in helping “develop and advance the work” of the group in Lebanon.
“This crime will certainly not pass without the enemy receiving punishment and revenge,” Hezbollah said in a statement.
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, who arrived at the scene following the missile strike, condemned the attack and stressed that the move would not affect Syrian-Iranian relations.
Iranian Ambassador to Syria Hossein Akbari told reporters at the scene that Israel's F-35 fighter jets had launched missiles targeting the Iranian Consulate's building and he was in the building of the Iranian Embassy when the airstrike occurred.
He added that Iran will respond to Israel's attack on the Iranian Embassy with equal force.
Hours after a deadly Israeli airstrike, almost two hundred hardline protesters gathered near the former Israeli embassy in Tehran and called for revenge.
Since the war in Gaza began nearly six months ago, clashes have also increased between Israel and Hezbollah — another militant group supported by Iran — along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.