Iran claims Oct. 7 massacre was retaliation for Soleimani killing – report

More recently, an Israeli air strike outside Damascus killed a senior adviser in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

The October 7 massacre in southern Israel was a response to the 2020 assassination of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qassem Soleimani, according to Haaretz citing an IRGC statement on Wednesday morning.

More recently, an Israeli air strike outside the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday killed a senior adviser in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, three security sources and Iranian state media said.

“I will not comment on various actions we take. The IDF is working together with other security organizations throughout the Middle East, within the borders of the state, around the borders of the state,” Herzi Halevi told reporters near Gaza when asked about the strike.

“We take whatever action necessary to make it very clear that we are very determined to defend the country, are willing to go far,” Chief of the General Staff Halevi said.

Sayyed Razi Mousavi

The adviser, known as Sayyed Razi Mousavi, was responsible for coordinating the military alliance between Syria and Iran. The Revolutionary Guards said Israel would suffer for killing Mousavi, who held the Guards’ rank of brigadier-general.

“Undoubtedly, the usurper and savage Zionist regime will pay for this crime,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said in a statement read on state TV. “This action is another sign of frustration, helplessness, and inability of the occupying Zionist regime.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry released a statement on Monday evening, warning that Tehran “reserves the right to respond at the appropriate time and place to the assassination” of Mousavi.

Tehran added that the suspected assassination “is a sinful and cowardly act and a sign of the terrorist nature of the Zionist regime.” Hezbollah released a statement on Monday night mourning the death of the IRGC official, whom the Lebanese terrorist organization called “one of the best brothers who worked to support the Islamic resistance in Lebanon for decades.”