TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has pledged retaliation against Israel following a missile strike that killed five of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers in Damascus, along with several Syrian troops, on Saturday.
The incident, one of the latest missile attacks in the Middle East, has further heightened tensions amid the ongoing Gaza conflict.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, in a statement on his office’s website, labeled the killings as a “terrorist move” and a “blatant violation of Syrian airspace.” He warned that Israel’s actions “will not go unanswered by Iran.”
Earlier on Saturday, the IRGC announced that five of its members, serving as military advisors in Syria, were killed in the Israeli missile strike in Damascus’s Mazzeh neighborhood. The attack also claimed the lives of several Syrian forces and civilians.
The IRGC identified the deceased Iranians as Hojjatollah Omidvar, Ali Aqazadeh, Hossein Mohammadi, Saeid Karimi, and Mohammad-Amin Samadi.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the attack, asserting that Iran would respond at an appropriate time and place.
Iran maintains that its presence in Syria is in an advisory capacity, at the invitation of the Syrian government.
The Syrian government reported that the Israeli forces conducted the attack from airspace over the occupied Golan Heights. It claimed that while some missiles were intercepted by its air defenses, one building was completely destroyed and several neighboring structures sustained damage.
Syrian civil defense teams are currently engaged in search and rescue operations, as well as retrieving the bodies of victims.
