Though it was blamed by Iran and its allies, Israel has not officially commented on the attack on the building in Damascus, which killed Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the IRGC’s most senior official in Syria, along with his deputy Gen. Mohammad Hadi Hajriahimi, five other IRGC officers and at least one member of Hezbollah.
In the wake of the strike, US troops based in southeastern Syria intercepted an attack drone, marking the first such incident in two months, a Defense Department told The Times, speaking on condition of anonymity. Iran-backed militias had refrained from attacking US bases in an apparent attempt at deescalation after three US troops were killed in a drone strike in Jordan in January.
Ralph Goff, a former senior CIA official who operated in the Middle East, called the alleged Israeli strike “reckless,” adding that “it will only result in escalation by Iran and its proxies.”
He told the Times that the attack was in line with Israel’s long-term strategy of weakening the IRGC and “punishing them for ongoing plots to kill or kidnap Israeli Jews around the world.” READ MORE
