An Israeli air strike on an Iranian diplomatic constructing in Damascus on April 1 killed a brigadier common within the elite Quds Power of the nation’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who had performed a central position in overseeing and supporting paramilitary operations in help of the Syrian state in addition to coordination with the Lebanese militia group Hezbollah. Ten others have been killed within the Israeli assault, together with a number of lengthy serving diplomats and Common Zahedi’s deputy Common Haji Rahimi. Unconfirmed studies have indicated {that a} third common, Brigadier Common Hossein Amirollah, who serves chief of common employees of the Quds Power in Syria and Lebanon, might have additionally been both among the many victims or the meant targets of the strike. The assault seems to have been timed particularly to neutralise the senior Iranian navy leaders, and was performed utilizing lengthy vary missiles fired from outdoors Syrian airspace, as has been the norm for Israeli assaults since 2018 following the lack of an F-16 fighter to Syrian air defences in February that yr.
Following the assault Iranian Ambassador to the Syrian Arab Republic Hossein Akbari acknowledged that the consulate within the Syrian capital had been hit by six missiles launched by F-35 fighters, with our bodies on the time nonetheless being recognized within the rubble. He pledged that Iran’s response to the assault could be “on the identical magnitude and harshness,” with out disclosing additional particulars. Israeli F-35s have obtained significantly giant portions of spare components and others help since October from NATO companions within the F-35 program, most notably the Netherlands and america, which has allowed models to take care of an uncharacteristically excessive tempo of operations. F-35s are reported to have engaged Syrian and Hezbollah targets in addition to a spread of civilian and navy targets within the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Launching missiles from outdoors Syria didn’t take a look at the F-35’s stealth capabilities in opposition to Syrian air defences, though with different Israeli fighters utilizing close to out of date mechanically scanned array radars and far older knowledge hyperlinks the brand new plane have been nicely optimised to conducting a time delicate operation and sustaining very excessive situational consciousness whereas doing so.
The most recent Israeli strike on Syrian targets comes as Iranian backed paramilitaries within the area have gained rising successes launching drone, artillery and missile strikes on a spread of Israeli and U.S. targets, with a drone strike on an Israeli naval base having additionally been efficiently carried out by Iraqi militia teams on April 1. The assault on Damascus additionally follows Israeli air strikes on March 29 in opposition to Syrian Arab Army forces within the Aleppo governate close to the Turkish border, inflicting near 40 deaths. These assaults coincided with escalated offensives by Turkish backed Islamist militia teams in opposition to Syrian forces within the area, permitting jihadist militias on the bottom to escalate their offensives as a part of a common pattern of parallel assaults on Syria being launched by Israel and Turkey.
Whereas offering shut air help to Turkish sponsored insurgents, Israeli strikes have targeted on neutralising key navy and political leaders. Current assaults of this nature have included the killing of Revolutionary Guard Corps Brigadier Common Seyed Razi Mousavi, a longtime advisor for native forces in Syria, in a precision strike on Damascus on December 25. It additionally included the assassination by drone strike of Hamas deputy chief Saleh Al Arouri within the Lebanese capital Beirut on January 2. Israel additionally supplied intelligence help to the CIA operation to assassinate Iran’s most senior and adorned navy official Common Qasem Soleimani on January 2, 2020, with the nation’s intelligence companies and its air power between them having been credited with a number of profitable assassinations between that point and the escalation of regional hostilities in October 2023.
