Iran military leader killed in Syria was member of Hezbollah’s Shura Council, source says

Iranians attend the funeral of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps General Mohammad Reza Zahedi in Tehran, Iran on 4 April, 2024 [HOSSEIN BERIS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images]

Iranian military leader Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who was killed in the Israeli strike that targeted the Islamic Republic’s consulate in Damascus, was a member of Hezbollah’s Shura Council, a source close to the Lebanese group told Agence France-Presse (AFP) yesterday.

Seven members of the Revolutionary Guard, including Zahedi, were killed in an air strike that destroyed the Iranian consulate building in Damascus on 1 April. The Islamic Republic accused its regional arch enemy Israel of carrying out the strike and vowed to retaliate.

Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi is the most prominent Iranian military leader to be targeted since Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, was assassinated in a US air strike in Baghdad in January 2020.

Zahedi was the only non-Lebanese member of Hezbollah’s Shura Council, according to the source.

Hezbollah’s Shura Council, the decision-making body of the group, consists of seven members in addition to the Secretary-General of the party, Hassan Nasrallah, according to the source.

READ: Strike on Iran Consulate in Syria is ‘turning point’ Hezbollah head says

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