SOHR: An Israeli-Iranian Escalation In Syria

For the second day in a row, Syria witnessed Israeli strikes on Iranian targets that killed members of the Revolutionary Guards, including an apparently important officer, something that Tehran confirmed that it would “respond” to, in an indication of a possible further escalation between the two sides.

The official Iranian news agency, IRNA, quoted a statement by the Revolutionary Guards, confirming the killing of officer Milad Heidari, who was presented as one of the “military advisors to the Revolutionary Guards in Syria,” in an Israeli raid on the Damascus countryside at dawn on Friday. The statement stressed that Israel “will undoubtedly receive a response to this crime.”

For its part, the “Syrian Observatory for Human Rights” reported the death of 5 officers of the “Revolutionary Guard”, including a “leader of the first row.”

This strike is the sixth attack carried out by Israel in Syria this month, knowing that the Hebrew state does not claim responsibility and adheres to a policy of silence. For years, Israel has launched attacks on what it describes as targets linked to Iran in Syria. Iran, for its part, says its officers are playing an advisory role in Syria at the invitation of the Damascus government. Dozens of members of the Revolutionary Guards have been killed in Syria during the war, including senior officers, according to Reuters.

The Syrian media reported that the new attack (Friday) comes after a first strike was carried out on Thursday night, which resulted in the injury of two soldiers. Reuters quoted a source affiliated with the Syrian opposition factions as saying that the strike that took place (Thursday) hit a car carrying pro-Iranian military personnel near a Syrian security building.