In an investigative article published last evening (Monday), the Iran International website revealed that senior member of the Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Damascus, left Tehran that morning because he was afraid Israel would target him within the Islamic Republic.
According to the publication, Zahedi took off secretly from Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran at 5 AM and made his way to the Syrian air force base in Latakia, protected by the Russian S300 air defense system, from where he flew to Damascus. According to intelligence sources, Zahedi found his way to a military base located near the Iranian consulate in the city.
It was also reported that one of his friends in Iran warned him that he feared for his safety. Zahedi laughed and said that this is how he, himself, had warned Imad Mughniyeh prior to his killing, but despite the warning, continued his journey to Syria.
As you will recall, the assassination of Zahedi and other senior members of the Revolutionary Guards at the Iranian consulate in Damascus led to the Iranian attack on Israel which was thwarted when hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles were intercepted by the air defenses of Israel, the United States, Great Britain, and other countries in the region.