(Bloomberg) -- Iran said an Israeli air strike in Damascus on Monday killed a senior commander of its Revolutionary Guard, Seyyed Razi Mousavi.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Israel will pay a price for the action, according to state-run Press TV, which said Mousavi was serving as a military adviser in Syria.
Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, asked at a briefing Monday if Israel had anything to do with the killing of the Iranian commander, declined to comment, adding, “The Israeli army's duty is to maintain Israel's security interests.”
Press TV said Mousavi previously worked with Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone strike in January 2020.
Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that is, to some extent, a proxy force for Iran's Revolutionary Guards, said on its Al-Manar television station that Mousavi's death was “a new crime” by the “Zionist enemy.” It added that it considered “this assassination a blatant and shameless assault and a transgression of borders.”
Hezbollah has joined the Israel-Hamas war, and its attacks on northern Israel have led to the evacuation of more than 100,000 Israelis from their homes.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised military officers in the north that “we will not allow a return to the reality we lived in until Oct. 6.”
“We are increasing our efforts against Hezbollah,” he added.
--With assistance from Fares Akram.
(Adds Hezbollah reaction in fifth paragraph, Israeli defense minister in seventh.)
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