Click to see full-size image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
An advisor of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed in alleged Israeli strikes that targeted the southern outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus, on February 2 morning, according to Iranian media.
Citing a military official, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said that Israeli fighter jets launched missiles from over the Golan Heights at the targets in southern Damascus. The official claimed that the strikes resulted in material losses only.
Nevertheless, the Iranian semi-official Tasnim News Agency said that an advisor of the IRGC named Saeed Alidadi was killed in the strikes.
The strikes targeted the Shia town of Set Zaynab, where the IRGC and affiliated forces like Lebanon’s Hezbollah are known to be present. Targets in the nearby town of Aqraba and along the highway to Damascus International Airport were also hit, according to Syrian media.
An alleged photo of IRGC advisor Saeed Alidadi. Via Telegram.
Just a day earlier, Reuters reported that the IRGC scaled back the deployment of their senior officers in Syria due to a spate of deadly strikes blamed on Israel.
Two officers of the IRGC were killed in Set Zaynab on December 2 in a strike that was blamed on Israel. Another attack that targeted the town on December 25 claimed the life of Quds Force senior commander Brigade General Seyed Razi Mousavi. Israel was also held responsible by both Iran and Syria.
Later on January 20, five IRGC officers, including the commander of the guards’ intelligence in Syria, were killed when strikes allegedly carried out by Israel targeted the al-Mazzeh Western Villas neighborhood in Damascus.
The Israeli escalation against the IRGC and its affiliates in Syria began after the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip. Iran is the main backer of the Hamas Movement who led the October 7 Palestinian surprise attack against Israel that sparked the war.
The killing of another Iranian advisor in Syria will further raise tensions between Iran and Israel. The IRGC will most likely respond.
