(RepublicanJournal.org) – A senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps died in a recent airstrike that Israel allegedly conducted in Syria. Iran’s foreign minister promised revenge in response to the deadly attack, warning Israel that its capital now “faces a tough countdown.” Experts fear increased Iranian involvement could put the war on a broader scale, with possible repercussions extending far beyond the region.
Brig. Gen. Razi Mousavi was believed to be in Sayida Zeinab, a suburb of Syria’s capital, Damascus, when the December 25 air strikes hit. The military leader had reportedly been an associate of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who died in a US drone attack in 2020. Iran reiterated its threat to retaliate against that attack in January 2023. Its leaders called Soleimani a “martyr” according to Al Jazeera, which added that former President Donald Trump had ordered the assassination. The MAGA leader reportedly claimed he was averting an attack the Iranian general had planned against members of the US military stationed in Baghdad.
The Times of Israel states that Mousavi had been vital to Iran’s military alliance with Syria. Officials believe he was also one of the driving forces behind Tehran supplying weapons to Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim group that holds heavy influence in Lebanon, and other allied terrorist groups. Hezbollah reportedly called the Islamic militant leader “off limits” and criticized this most recent alleged assassination as “flagrant and shameless.”
Experts fear increased involvement from Iran and similar Islam-backed countries could cause the war to expand across the region. Hezbollah has already allegedly fired rockets at parts of Israel, and Houthi rebels in Yemen — who also have Iran’s support — have threatened supply chains that depend on access to the Red Sea for trade to and from the region.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas, an Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, came to its most recent head on October 7, when Hamas soldiers slaughtered 1,139 people in Israel. Tel-Aviv retaliated with a vengeance, killing at least 20,915 people in its counterstrikes. The growing death count only seems to be adding fuel to the fire.
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