According to a Lebanese security source, an Israeli bombing inside the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, on Monday killed Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.
In 2010, the US Treasury Department sanctioned Zahedi, characterizing him as a significant figure in Iran’s backing for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Journalists on the scene in Syria’s capital saw smoke rising from the wreckage of a structure that an air strike had devastated, according to Reuters. Israel hasn’t confirmed its role.
“We do not comment on reports in the foreign media,” an Israeli military official told Reuters when questioned about the situation.
According to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, “we are in conversations with partners in the region gathering more information, but at this point, we don’t have confirmation of either the target or the responsible party.” When asked about the purported strike, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded, “Our team is looking into it.”
In 2010, the US Treasury stated that Zahedi “has also acted as a liaison to Hezbollah and Syrian intelligence services and is reportedly charged with guaranteeing weapons shipments to Hezbollah.”
Iranian state media reported that the airstrike on Monday killed numerous Iranian officials, according to Reuters.
Hezbollah and the Israeli military have repeatedly engaged in cross-border skirmishes since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7.
Israel announced in February that it had killed a senior Hezbollah commander in a strike in Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces reported at the time that an overnight airstrike on a “Hezbollah military structure” in Nabatieh had killed Ali Muhammad Aldbas, a top leader of the Radwan forces. According to the IDF, the attack killed his deputy commander, Ibrahim Issa, as well as another terrorist.
