Israeli strike kills top IRGC commander in Syria

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) was killed by an Israeli strike in the vicinity of the Syrian capital city of Damascus, Iranian media reported on Monday. IRGC said he was killed in a missile attack. 

Tasnim news agency, a semi-official media outlet, reported that Seyyed Razi Mousavi, a top commander of the IRGC and “one of the IRGC’s senior advisors in Syria” was killed by Israeli air forces in the outskirts of Damascus. 

The agency also reported that he was one of the “companions” of  Qasem Soleimani - head of the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the IRGC, who was killed in a US airstrike in Baghdad on January 3, 2020.

The agency did not elaborate when and where exactly the airstrike took place. 

Israel’s defense ministry has yet to confirm its involvement in the attack.

Iran is the main backer of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Tehran has helped Assad remain in power since a civil war began more than a decade ago. 
 
Tasnim later cited a statement from the IRGC, confirming the death of the commander earlier in the day in a “criminal missile attack.” 

Reuters cited three unnamed security sources as saying the commander was killed in an Israeli airstrike. 

The commander was responsible for coordinating the military alliance between Tehran and Damascus, according to Reuters. 

Updated at 7:46 pm