An escalation in Middle East hostilities unfolded as the Israeli Military struck an Iranian diplomatic consulate in Syria, killing at least seven Iranian military officers, including two senior Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IIRGC) senior leaders.

Although Israeli strikes on Iranian targets in Syria are relatively commonplace, this strike stands out because it targeted a normally off-limits diplomatic compound that is similar to an official embassy.

The strike killed senior commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Brig. Gen. Mohammad Hadi Haj Rahimi. Zahedi was the Quds Force commander for operations in Lebanon. The Quds Force is IRGC's foreign operations wing, responsible for funding, equipping, and training foreign proxy groups like Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthi rebels, and Iraq's Shia militias. So it's only logical to assume Zahedi was killed for his role in supporting Hezbollah attacks against Israel.

Iran stated they retain the right to carry out retribution strikes and operations against Israel. Israel neither confirmed or denied the the strike as their own.

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Will Killmore

Will Killmore is a US Army combat infantry veteran and Purple Heart recipient. He has deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan with the 172nd Stryker Brigade and 173rd Airborne Brigade. Following his time in service, he successfully pursued a certificate of journalism and has been a blogger for Funker530 since 2014. Follow Will’s bad takes on Twitter