On Saturday there was another targeted killing of Iranian officials in Damascus and southern Lebanon. It was added to a long line of targeted killings in recent months, including that of senior Iranian official Reza Mousavi and Hamas leader Salah al-Arouri.
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They all played key roles in the "Terror Axis" led by Iran. Their common pattern involved moving and coordinating between Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, creating a kind of terror corridor crossing borders and organizations.
In the latest elimination in Damascus, which was attributed to Israel, five members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards were assassinated. Among the dead were five IRGC advisors, the most senior among them being Yusuf Amir Zada, more commonly known as Jajj-Sadq, a Quds Force intelligence officer, who had close ties with Reza Musawi, a Quds Force senior official, who was killed back in December in Damascus.
According to reports, the explosion that "completely razed" a multi-story building in the Al-Mazeh neighborhood in Damascus occurred during a meeting of Iranian intelligence officials.
Jajj-Sadq, according to reports, was responsible for attacks from Syria against American and Israeli interests. His deputy was also killed. The activities of these figures in Syria, in Damascus in a well-known neighborhood, demonstrate Iran's influence and connection in the region. In Tehran, they promised to retaliate for the assassination attributed to Israel, and President Ibrahim Raisi stated that "the Israeli attack will not pass without a response."
Just days after the assassination of al-Arouri, another senior figure in the Iranian "Terror Axis" was killed. Wissam al-Tawil, the commander of Hezbollah's Radwan Force, was reportedly killed in an attack attributed to Israel in southern Lebanon. He was recently appointed to lead the Radwan Force, and moved between Syria and Lebanon. The fact that even the Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the targeting of Tawil indicates his connection to the ayatollah regime and his significance for Tehran.
Israel, as usual, doesn't claim responsibility for the assassinations attributed to it in Syria and Lebanon. However, in the past month, the IDF has relatively acknowledged responsibility for two additional assassinations: Hassan Akrash, responsible for launching Hamas rockets in Syria, was killed by the IDF on January 8 in the Syrian town of Beit Jinn. Shortly after that, the IDF announced the killing of Ali Hussein Barji in Lebanon, the commander of the southern Lebanon area in Hezbollah's aerial unit, responsible for launching armed drones toward Israel.