Iran holds funeral for officers killed in Syria embassy strike

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and relatives of the victims attends the funeral ceremony held for victims who lost their lives in Israeli attack on Iran’s consulate building in the embassy compound in Damascus in Tehran, Iran on April 04, 2022 [Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout – Anadolu Agency]

Iran today held a funeral for seven officers killed in a suspected Israeli air strike on the Iranian embassy compound in Syria this week, Reuters reports.

State television showed demonstrators carrying pictures of those killed and banners with slogans such as “Death to Israel” and “Death to America”.

The funeral coincided with the annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day, during which Iran stages large pro-Palestinian rallies nationwide.

Among those killed in Monday’s air strike on the Iranian embassy compound in the Syrian capital, Damascus, was one of Iran’s top soldiers, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC).

It was the boldest and deadliest in a series of attacks that have killed Iranian officials in Syria since December.

Iran vowed harsh retaliation, raising the spectre of a wider war and prompting the Israeli armed forces to suspend leave for all combat units yesterday, a day after they said they were mobilising more troops for air defence units.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday his country would harm “whoever harms us or plans to harm us”.

READ: Iran vows revenge for Israel strike on embassy in Syria, as US insists it was not involved

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