Tel Aviv: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has said that Israel will pay a heavy price for killing Brig Gen Razi Mousavi of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in an airstrike in Syria.
“Without a doubt, this action is another sign of frustration, helplessness, and incapacity of the usurping Zionist regime in the region,” the Iranian President said, in a press statement.
Brig Gen Mousavi, a senior adviser in Iran's Revolutionary Guards, was killed in an airstrike in the Sayeda Zeinab area near the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday.
Mousavi was responsible for coordinating the military alliance between Syria and Iran. Israel has alleged that Mousavi was responsible for coordinating the supply of arms and materials to Hezbollah.
However, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, during a press conference, did not comment on the killing of Mousavi.
"I won't comment on foreign reports, these or others in the Middle East," Hagari said in response to a reporter's question. "The Israeli military obviously has a job to protect the security interests of Israel."
Iran's state television interrupted its regular news broadcast to announce that Mousavi had been killed, describing him as one of the Guards' oldest advisers in Syria, reports Reuters.
The Revolutionary Guards said Israel would suffer for killing Mousavi, who held the Guards' rank of brigadier-general. "The usurper and savage Zionist regime will pay for this crime," the Guards said in a statement read on state TV.
Meanwhile, Iran Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a social media post, “Tel Aviv faces a tough countdown.”
With agency inputs