Israel rewrites rules of engagement in covert war with Iran
Israel's bold move in striking the Iranian Embassy in Damascus this week changes the contours of its shadow war with Iran, though much will depend on how Tehran and its proxies choose to respond.
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WASHINGTON — Israeli F-35s fired six missiles at a building in Iran’s embassy complex in Damascus on Monday, killing the top Iranian Quds Force commander in the Levant, along with six other Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers.
The assassination of Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi and his deputy, Gen. Mohammad Haj Rahimi, marks the deepest cut to the IRGC’s command structure since the 2020 US drone strike that killed top Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.
More than just an intelligence coup for Israel, the strikes signaled the Israeli high command's willingness to rewrite the rules of engagement in its years-long covert war to keep Iran and its proxies at bay.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has vowed retaliation against Israel for the killings. Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned that the United States will be “held accountable” for the Israeli strikes.
