Iranian pro-regime media admitted the loss of a prominent leader named Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a top commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), on Monday night.
Iranian pro-government Tasnim media noted that he was a member of the Quds force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. This is a major loss for Iran and a major setback for the regime in its attempt to control Syria and to project its influence into Iraq and Lebanon.
The reports in pro-Iranian media note that the commander of the Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria was focusing on “recruiting all capabilities towards the resistance,” pointing out 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 advisors who work with its proxies in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Some pro-regime Iranian media have referenced Imad Mughniyeh, the key Lebanese commander who worked with Iran and Hezbollah and who was killed in 2008.
Al-Ain media in the UAE noted that a “prominent leader in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard died today in an Israeli strike targeting the Tehran consulate in Damascus.” They said 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 the commander noting that 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 notes he was placed on a US sanctions list in 2010. He has played a major role in the Quds Force of Iran, including in Lebanon supporting Hezbollah since that time.
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. Al-Ain media in the UAE notes that he was killed after airstrikes on several other key IRGC members in Syria.
“Last February, Iranian media revealed the killing of an advisor to the Revolutionary Guard, whose name was not revealed, in an Israeli raid on southern Damascus,” the Al-In report noted. It also noted the assassination of Radhi Mousavi, “a prominent leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Syria, in an Israeli air strike near Damascus.”
Of interest here, 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 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 noted.
“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,” the same report said.
Iran’s pro-regime general killed in Damascus
“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,” Iran’s Tasnim pro-government media said.
Iran has said he was a member of the Quds Force and that he was a “martyr.” Tasnim showed the IRGC member in photos, including one with Imad Mughniyeh. Iran’s pro-regime media said “those who are killed in the way of Allah are dead; but they will be resurrected with their Lord.
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” in its statement. It said that the IRGC leader was killed alongside others, including “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 advisors of Iran in Syria.”
The Shrine is likely a reference to a Shi’ite shrine in Demascus. It gives the names of the other fallen Iranians as “Hossein Amanollahi, Seyyed Mahdi Jalalat, Mohsen Sadaqat, Ali Agha Babae and Ali Salehi Rozbahani.” This was according to the IRGC, Tasnim said. They claimed the men were killed near the Iranian embassy in Damascus.
They also said this was as important as the killing of “Emad Mughniyeh, Haj Ahmed Kazemi and Haj Qasim Soleimani,” and oddly they referenced Hassan Nasrallah, who has not been killed.
Who was Zahedi? A brigade commander in the IRGC, Tasnim says. “He was the commander of the 14th division of Imam Hossein,” Tasnim says also. Then he ran IRGC ground forces. He continued his work in Syria and working with Lebanon over the last decade.
