4 Members of Security Detachment Detained After Israeli Strike on Iran Revolutionary Guards in Damascus

Syrian security and emergency personnel search through the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a meeting of leaders from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. (AFP)
Syrian security and emergency personnel search through the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a meeting of leaders from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. (AFP)
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4 Members of Security Detachment Detained After Israeli Strike on Iran Revolutionary Guards in Damascus

Syrian security and emergency personnel search through the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a meeting of leaders from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. (AFP)
Syrian security and emergency personnel search through the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a meeting of leaders from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. (AFP)

Military intelligence authorities in the Damascus government arrested four members of a security detachment in wake of the Israeli attack on the Mezzeh area in the Syrian capital last week.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the attack left 12 people dead, including five Iranians, including three leaders in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, four Syrian member of factions loyal to Iran, two Lebanese, and an Iraqi.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Rami Abdulrahman, director of the UK-based monitor, confirmed that a colonel, his assistant, a non-commissioned officer, and a civilian have been arrested.

Mezzeh is considered “almost completely secure” due to the presence of high-ranking military, political figures, and embassies in the area. Residents of the area include members of the Revolutionary Guards, “Islamic Jihad” and Lebanese Hezbollah.

The building struck by Israel was being used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Blaming Israel for the strike, Iran vowed to retaliate at the “right time and place.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian stressed that Iranian advisors in Syria will continue to “strongly” carry out their duties.

The latest attack has raised to at least 90 the death toll from 14 Israeli strikes on Syria since Israel launched its war against Gaza in October, revealed the Observatory.

This count includes 74 members linked to Hezbollah and Iranian militias, Syrians working with them, two unidentified individuals, and 14 casualties from government forces.

Fifty-six of the casualties were affiliated with Iranian militias, including key figures like Reza Mousavi and Brigadier General Haj Sadiq.



Pezeshkian: Iran Wants a Strong, Independent Iraq

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian places a wreath at the site of Qassem Soleimani’s assassination in Baghdad, Iraq (EPA)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian places a wreath at the site of Qassem Soleimani’s assassination in Baghdad, Iraq (EPA)
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Pezeshkian: Iran Wants a Strong, Independent Iraq

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian places a wreath at the site of Qassem Soleimani’s assassination in Baghdad, Iraq (EPA)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian places a wreath at the site of Qassem Soleimani’s assassination in Baghdad, Iraq (EPA)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian began his foreign tour with a visit to Iraq, where he signed agreements focusing on security and the economy. The two countries also aimed to find new ways to handle debt payments and share water resources.

After arriving in Baghdad, Pezeshkian visited the site of Qassem Soleimani’s assassination and laid a wreath there, a gesture that has become a common practice for Iranian officials visiting the city since 2021.

Soleimani, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' top commander, was killed in a US drone strike near Baghdad airport in 2020.

Iraqi state television showed Pezeshkian and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani at the reception ceremony, which featured both national anthems. Pezeshkian met with Sudani and the Iraqi President at two locations in the Green Zone.

He was also set to meet with other officials and party leaders before continuing his visit to the Kurdistan region, Basra, Najaf, and Karbala.

Pezeshkian is scheduled to travel to Sulaymaniyah and lay a wreath at the grave of the late President Jalal Talabani, according to an Iranian official.

Sudani called the relationship with Tehran “strong and solid” during a press conference with Pezeshkian. He noted that the two countries’ security forces are working together to secure borders and prevent smuggling.

Pezeshkian said Iran needs new security agreements with Iraq, as both countries face the same threats.

Sudani reiterated that Iraq will not allow its land to be used for actions that could threaten Iran’s security.

Tehran’s main concern is the presence of armed Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in the Kurdistan region.

Baghdad recently closed many of these groups’ offices and removed them from the border area. Iraq’s National Security Advisor Qassem al-Araji said there are plans to resettle these groups in a third country with UN coordination.

In March 2023, Iraq and Iran signed a security agreement after Iran attacked Kurdish opposition groups in northern Iraq.

Since then, both countries agreed to disarm these groups and keep them away from the border. Tehran accuses them of getting weapons from Iraq and inciting protests following the death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in September 2022.

On his part, Pezeshkian stressed that Iran wants a “strong, stable, secure, and independent Iraq.”