Iran says 2 IRGC members killed in Israeli airstrike in Syria, vows revenge

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) - Iran said late Tuesday that two members of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed in a recent airstrike in Syria, vowing retaliation.

In a statement, the IRGC's public relations wing said the two military officials were killed in an airstrike Monday on the outskirts of Syria’s capital Damascus.

The men have been identified as Colonel Ehsan Karbalaipur and Colonel Morteza Saeednejad.

"Without a doubt, the Israeli occupation will pay the price for this crime," the statement said.

On Monday, Syrian media reported about the killing of two people in an Israeli airstrike that targeted sites near Damascus airport but did not identify them.

The Israeli military normally does not comment on its operations in Syria but has on several occasions confirmed strikes on Iran-backed groups and fighters in the country.

Iran has also generally refrained from attributing the killing of its soldiers in Syria to Israel, mostly blaming the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group.

The last time Israel struck the war-ravaged Arab country was on Feb. 24, in which three Syrian soldiers were killed.

The Feb. 24 strike came hours before Russia launched its devastating military invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

Monday's air raid came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett traveled to Moscow for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia is a key regional ally of Syria's Bashar Al Assad, but it also maintains close relations with both Tel Aviv and Tehran.

According to reports in Israeli media, the Israeli military has ordered a high alert in anticipation of possible retaliation from Iran-backed groups in Syria or Lebanon over the killing of the two IRGC members.