Iranian pro-regime media on Monday night admitted the loss of Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a top commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). He was a member of the IRGC’s Quds Force, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported.
This is a major loss for Iran and a big setback for the regime in its attempt to control Syria and project its influence into Iraq and Lebanon.
The commander of the Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria was focusing on “recruiting all capabilities towards the resistance,” pro-Iranian media reported, adding that he was “following up coordination with the relevant authorities in order to deliver weapons to Gaza.”
This shows how much Iran valued Zahedi. He was a key node in their “axis of resistance.”
This is a major setback for Iran and for its network of advisers who work with its proxies in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. Some pro-regime Iranian media outlets have referenced Imad Mughniyeh, a key Lebanese commander who worked with Iran and Hezbollah and who was killed in 2008.
A “prominent leader in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard died today in an Israeli strike targeting the Tehran consulate in Damascus,” Al-Ain media in the UAE reported, adding that “the prominent leader is Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who is the fourth Revolutionary Guard leader assassinated by Israel in strikes on Syria since last December.”
The report also provided some background on Zahedi and said he was one of the most senior commanders in the IRGC in Syria.
“He served as Deputy Chief of Operations of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, in addition to assuming command of the IRGC’s air and ground forces,” the report said. He was placed on a US sanctions list in 2010 and had played a major role in the Quds Force of Iran, including in Lebanon, supporting Hezbollah since that time, it said.
Zahedi was a key element of the support and liaison with Hezbollah. He also oversaw weapons shipments to Hezbollah. In the last decade, Iran has sought to increase Hezbollah’s arsenal to not only include missiles and rockets, but also anti-tank munitions and precision-guided munitions.
He was killed after airstrikes on several other key IRGC members in Syria, Al-Ain media in the UAE reported.
“Last February, Iranian media revealed the killing of an adviser to the Revolutionary Guard, whose name was not revealed, in an Israeli raid on southern Damascus,” the report said, citing the assassination of Radhi Mousavi, “a prominent leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Syria, in an Israeli airstrike near Damascus.”
UAE condemns the strike
Interestingly, the UAE has said it “condemns the targeting of the Iranian diplomatic mission in Damascus.” The Iranian consulate was reportedly targeted. The UAE and other Gulf states have worked with Damascus in recent years to return Syria to the Arab League. Iran uses Syria as a conduit for weapons to Hezbollah, to threaten Israel, and also to empower militias that move drugs that destabilize Jordan.
“In a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Monday, the United Arab Emirates condemned the targeting of the Iranian diplomatic mission in the Syrian capital, Damascus,” Al-Ain media reported. “The headquarters of the Iranian Consulate in Damascus was subjected to an attack that led to the death of a number of people, including the prominent leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Mohammad Reza Zahedi,” it added.
Tasnim reported: “According to the report of Tasnim News Agency’s defense group, the general public relations of the IRGC announced the martyrdom of generals Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haj Rahimi and five of their companions in the terrorist crime of the Zionist regime in the missile attack on the consulate building of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Damascus.”
The killing comes during the last week of Ramadan, before Quds Day in Iran. It will be seen as important. Iranian-backed militias also targeted Eilat on Monday, pro-Iranian groups in Iraq claimed.
Iranian media slammed the “Zionist wolf regime.” Those killed included “the defender of the shrine, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Brigadier General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, commanders, veterans and veterans of the Holy Defense and senior military advisers of Iran in Syria,” the report said.
The shrine is likely a reference to a Shi’ite shrine in Damascus. The IRGC identified the other fallen Iranians as “Hossein Amanollahi, Seyyed Mahdi Jalalat, Mohsen Sadaqat, Ali Agha Babae and Ali Salehi Rozbahani,” Tasnim reported. They were killed near the Iranian embassy in Damascus, the report said, adding that this was as important as the killing of “Emad Mughniyeh, Haj Ahmed Kazemi and Haj Qasim Soleimani.” Oddly, the report referenced Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was not killed.
Zahedi was brigade commander in the IRGC and “was the commander of the 14th division of Imam Hossein,” Tasnim reported, and then he ran IRGC ground forces. He continued his work in Syria and was working with Lebanon over the last decade, the report said.