Iran accuses Israel of killing general in Syria and announces retaliation
Israel will "certainly pay for this crime", said Raisi. The Revolutionary Guards also announced retaliation.
In Syria, Mussawi was one of the "most experienced advisors" of the Al-Quds Brigades, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards branch responsible for foreign operations, Irna reported. According to the information, he was a companion of General Kassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US attack in Iraq in 2020. January 3 marks the fourth anniversary of the death of the commander of the Al-Quds Brigades.
Iran's ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, told the Iranian news agency Mehr that Mussawi's house had been hit by three missiles. "The building was destroyed," the diplomat said. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Israeli attacks on positions in the area used by Iranian groups and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.
"We consider this attack a shameless attack that crosses borders," declared Tehran-backed Hezbollah.
Iran is also a close ally of the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas, whose unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October triggered the Gaza war. Since then, tensions in the Israeli-Lebanese border region have also increased significantly. There have been repeated attacks between Israeli troops and Hezbollah.
Since the beginning of the war against Hamas, Israel has intensified its airstrikes in Syria. Israel did not want to comment on the report of Mussawi's death on Monday; in general, the country rarely comments on individual attacks in Syria. However, the Israeli government repeatedly emphasizes that it will not allow its arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence in Syria.
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- Raisi threatened that Israel will face "severe retribution" for the killing of the general in Damascus.
- The announcement of retaliation was made by the Revolutionary Guard, airlifting troops to the Syria-Israel border before the incident.
- On the fourth anniversary of General Soleimani's death, the killing of Mussawi, one of his most trusted advisors, in a suspected Israeli attack, stirred controversy in Damascus.
- According to Iraqi officials, before the incident, Hezbollah's top commander was meeting with top leaders in Tehran.
- Before the general's departure to Syria, Israel had issued warnings to him and his team regarding potential threats.
- In response to the allegations, Israel denied any involvement in Mussawi's killing and condemned the attacks on the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.
- In the aftermath of the incident, Iranian officials declared that they will not rest until the perpetrators of the crime are thrown from the region.
- The general's death has resulted in heightened tensions between Israel and its arch-enemy Iran, which has pledged to support the Syrian Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah.
- Before the start of the Syrian war, Damascus was a hub for intelligence exchange between Iran and Hezbollah, reinforcing their alliance.
- Syria, as a close ally of Iran, condemned the attack on their territory and pledged to support the Revolutionary Guard in its retaliatory efforts against Israel.
Source: www.stern.de
