Written by by JERUSALEM POST STAFF at jpost.com
Mohammed Reza Zahedi, the top commander in the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) for Lebanon and Syria was assassinated in an airstrike on Monday, along with his lieutenant and about five other officers, the IRGC said that night.
Zahedi is the highest-ranking Iranian killed since the current war started, even higher than Sayyed Reza Mousavi, killed in December, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
Reuters reporters at the site in the Mezzeh district of Damascus saw emergency workers clambering atop the rubble of a destroyed building inside the diplomatic compound, adjacent to the main embassy building. Emergency vehicles were parked outside. An Iranian flag hung from a pole in front of the debris.
The Syrian foreign minister and interior minister were both spotted at the scene. Initial reports indicated that at least six people were killed in the strike, which targeted the building adjacent to the Iranian consulate, reported to be used as a military command center for the IRGC. Syrian state media said at least six people were killed and several more were injured. These reports could not be verified by press time.
Besides his wide-ranging responsibilities for terror on Israel’s borders, Zahedi was the highest-level interlocutor for Tehran with Hezbollah.