Iran vows retaliation on Israel after commanders’ deaths, raising fears of war spiraling

Monday’s airstrike on Damascus is reverberating across the Middle East, raising fears that the war between Israel and Hamas could flare into a wider conflict.

Monday’s airstrike on the Syrian capital is reverberating across the Middle East, raising fears that the war between Israel and Hamas could flare into a wider conflict. 

On Tuesday, Iran vowed retaliation for the suspected Israeli attack on its embassy compound in Damascus that killed two of the country’s top commanders. The attack also killed five military advisers in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s immensely powerful military and political organization.

Among those killed was Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the Quds Force, the IRGC’s elite foreign espionage group, the IRGC  said. Zahedi was a key figure in coordinating the so-called Axis of Resistance — the anti-Israel, anti-West network of Iran-backed groups that operate with militants from across the Arab world. He is the most senior Iranian official to be killed since Gen. Qassem Soleimani was targeted by an American airstrike in 2020.

Iranian Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi.FARS News / AFP - Getty ImagesWhile much of the international attention has been focused on another Israeli strike that killed seven aid workers in Gaza, the Damascus bombing risks pushing archenemies Iran and Israel into a direct confrontation, according to to Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House, a London-based think tank. 

Like many experts, Vakil believes that neither Israel nor Iran want an all-out conflict.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iran-israel-retaliation-airstrike-damascus-embassy-rcna145979

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