A senior Iranian military commander was reportedly killed in a suspected Israeli airstrike in Syria on Monday. The U.S. Treasury Department had sanctioned Mohammad Reza Zahedi in 2010, citing his key role in supporting Hezbollah, a Lebanese terrorist organization. Zahedi, a senior leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, was responsible for ensuring weapons shipments to Hezbollah and acting as a liaison to Hezbollah and Syrian intelligence services.
The U.S. National Counterterrorism Center describes the IRGC-QF as one of Iran's primary organizations for conducting covert lethal activities outside of Iran, including terrorist operations. The IRGC-QF targets U.S., Israeli, Saudi, and UAE interests, as well as Iranian dissident groups. Zahedi's death occurred in an alleged Israeli airstrike that hit the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, according to a Lebanese security source.
