There was no immediate comment from Israel, which has repeatedly said it will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence in Syria.
A senior general with Iran�s Revolutionary Guards was killed Monday by an Israeli strike in Syria, the military force said, vowing to avenge �this crime�.
Iranian state media also reported the death of Razi Moussavi, describing him as �one of the most experienced advisors� of Quds Force, the foreign arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
There was no immediate comment from Israel, which has repeatedly said it will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence in Syria.
Moussavi �was killed during an attack by the Zionist regime a few hours ago in Zeinabiyah district in the suburbs of Damascus,� Tehran�s official IRNA news agency reported, using a different name for Sayyida Zeinab south of the Syrian capital.
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The general was �active in the field of providing logistical support to the axis of resistance in Syria,� IRNA said, referring to groups backed by Tehran and arrayed against Israel.
The IRGC confirmed Moussavi�s death in a statement, saying he was killed in a �missile attack� and vowed that Israel �will pay for this crime�.
The statement noted that Moussavi was a companion of General Qassem Soleimani, Iran�s revered Quds commander who was killed in Baghdad in a US drone strike in 2020.
Next week Iran will mark the fourth anniversary of Soleimani�s assassination.
� �Three missiles� �
Iran�s state TV said Moussavi was targeted by �three missiles� and aired footage showing smoke rising from the area of the strike.
A Britain-based monitor, the Syrian Observatory�for Human Rights, reported Israeli strikes on positions used by Iranian groups and by Lebanon�s powerful Tehran-aligned Hezbollah in the Sayyida Zeinab area.
Residents reported hearing loud explosions and seeing columns of smoke rising from farms in the area.
Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes�on its northern neighbour since Syria�s civil war began in 2011, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces and Hezbollah fighters as well as Syrian army positions.
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Israel, which rarely comments on reported strikes in Syria, has intensified attacks there particularly against Hezbollah since the start of its war against Hamas � also backed by Iran � triggered by the Palestinian militant group�s deadly October 7 attacks.
The Islamic republic, which supports Hamas financially and militarily, has hailed the attacks as a �success� but denied any direct involvement.
According to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures, about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Israel on October 7.
Israel�s relentless retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 20,400 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the besieged Hamas-run territory.
Iran does not recognise Israel and has made support for the Palestinian cause a centrepiece of its foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
� Agence France-Presse
