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On December 25, 2023, Iranian news agency Tasnim, which is affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), reported[1] that a senior IRGC commander, Reza Mousavi, had been killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Damascus suburb of Al-Sayyidah Zaynab, an important center of Iranian activity in Syria and the site of a shrine for Zaynab, the daughter of the caliph 'Ali. According to Tasnim, Mousavi, a senior IRGC advisor in Syria who had worked for the organization for almost 25 years, was a comrade of IRGC Quds Force Commander General Qasem Soleimani, killed by the U.S. in January 2020 in Baghdad, along with Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, the deputy leader of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). Others were present at the site of Mousavi's killing, but a casualty count of the strike has not yet been published.
A photo released by Tasnim showing Mousavi with Soleimani
The IRGC also reported Mousavi's death, noting that he was a friend of Soleimani and in charge of "supporting the axis of resistance in Syria." It threatened that "the brutal and usurping Zionist regime will pay for this crime."
Israel has not yet commented on the killing.
Iran-backed Iraqi Shi'ite militias eulogized Mousavi, praising him for playing an important role in the struggle against Sunni jihadi groups such as the Islamic State (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda and threatening to avenge his death. An Iranian news site also released a video threatening Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders with retaliation.
Al-Nujaba Movement: Mousavi Combated "U.S.-Made ISIS"; Islamic Resistance Will Avenge His Death From "Enemies Of The Religion And Of Humanity"
On December 25, the Iran-backed Iraqi Al-Nujaba Movement militia issued a statement eulogizing the "martyr" Mousavi, noting that he was killed during "days of victory against the weak Zionist enemy" and ahead of the fourth anniversary of Soleimani and Al-Muhandis' killing. Extending condolences to "all the resistance brothers" on "the setting of one of the stars which defended the truth and repelled the filth of terrorism from the shrine of the Lady Zaynab, thereby defeating all evil intentions of the U.S.-made ISIS from the entire region," the statement adds that "this pure blood is our path to freedom and to a final salvation from the renegade occupation." It threatens: "We, the Islamic Resistance, have blood revenge which we will certainly avenge […] The enemies of the religion and of humanity should know that they will disappear, however long they last and as much as they band together."[2]
Hizbullah Brigades: "Zionist-American Enemy" Targets Those Who Defend Their Land And Holy Sites, His Death Will Motivate Martyrdom-Lovers To "Inflict Pain On The Enemy"
The Iran-backed Iraqi Hizbullah Brigades issued a statement the same day extending condolences to "the commander of the Islamic revolution," Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei; "all nations of the region, and all free people of the world," and attributing Mousavi's death to "treacherous Zionist criminal aggression in Syria." The statement credits the slain IRGC commander with playing a "major role in confronting the forces of takfiri [based on declaring Muslims apostates permitted to be killed] darkness, such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS, which would have decimated Iraq and its people if not for the mujahideen's rising up to defend their holy sites," adding that Mousavi played a similar role in Syria before joining the martyrs killed in "the battle of truth against falsehood." It adds: "The Zionist-American enemy has made anyone who defends his land and holy sites into a target which must be eliminated using its treacherous methods and tools, imagining that this criminal policy will make men desist from combating them and repelling their plots. They do not know that martyrdom is the desire of the men of truth and attaining it is a gift which Allah bestows on those of His friends whom he wills. The martyr Mousavi chose to accompany the leaders of victory, the martyrs of glory […] so he supported them with his blood, which will remain fuel for the lovers of this path to inflict pain on the enemy and make him taste their harm."[3]
Video By Iranian News Agency: Angel Of Death Awaits Netanyahu And Senior Israeli Military Leaders
On December 25, the Arabic-language X (formerly Twitter) account of the Iranian Mehr News Agency published a 43-second video threatening Israel.[4] The video depicts an imagined scene of a meeting at "Mossad headquarters, Tel Aviv," at which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in Hebrew, with captions in Persian and Arabic, about a plan to "significantly stop the Iranians," "decrease the [terror] operations in Tel Aviv and the West Bank," and "prepare an immediate plan about the Iranian spies who have penetrated the Israeli system." Showing a bomb placed under Netanyahu's desk, the video ends with the Hebrew, Persian, and Arabic caption: "Watch yourselves, from the friends of Haman [the Biblical Persian minister who tried to exterminate the Jews]."
The X post reads: "This is not a threat. 'Azra'il [the Angel of Death] is waiting for Netanyahu and the senior military commanders of the Zionist entity, after the martyrdom of Sayyid Reza Mousavi, the companion of the martyr, commander Hajj Qasem Soleimani. There are events happening at this moment. This is not a threat, 'Azra'il is waiting for you."
[1] Tasnim, December 25, 2023.
[2] Telegram, December 25, 2023.
[3] Telegram, December 25, 2023.
[4] Twitter, December 25, 2023.
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