Iran threatens response to killing of IRGC officers in Syria strike

Two Iranian Revolutionary Guards members who served as military advisers in Syria were killed in an Israeli attack, Iranian state media reported on November 2.

 Two IRGC militants killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in the Damascus area. December 2, 2023 (photo credit: TASNIM NEWS AGENCY)
Two IRGC militants killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in the Damascus area. December 2, 2023
(photo credit: TASNIM NEWS AGENCY)

Iran will respond to attacks on its interests in Syria, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday when asked about the killing by Israel of two Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) members in Syria last week.

"No action against Iran's interests and our advisory forces in Syria will go unanswered," Kanaani said.

Two Iranian Revolutionary Guards members who served as military advisers in Syria were killed in an Israeli attack, Iranian state media reported on November 2, in the first reported Iranian casualties during the ongoing war in Gaza.

Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel has been praised by Iran, which supports Hamas in Gaza as well as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and militias in Syria and Iraq, but Iran itself has not directly involved itself in the war thus far beyond support for its various proxies in the region.

 Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attend an IRGC ground forces military drill in the Aras area, East Azerbaijan province, Iran, October 17, 2022. (credit: IRGC/WANA/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attend an IRGC ground forces military drill in the Aras area, East Azerbaijan province, Iran, October 17, 2022. (credit: IRGC/WANA/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

US has also engaged Iran-backed forces in Syria, Iraq

The United States has also engaged Iranian forces in Syria since the beginning of the war, with November airstrikes targeting IRGC sites, including a training facility and a safe house near the cities of al-Bukamal and al-Mayadeen. 

The United States also killed five Iran-backed fighters in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk on a pre-emptive airstrike on Sunday, after several attacks against US forces.