Report: Assassinated Iranian official was involved in planning of Hamas attack on Israel

A number of sources, including the "Reuters" news agency and Iranian websites, published new details this evening (Thursday) about the assassination of a senior member of the Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Reza Zahedi in a strike attributed to Israel. As you may remember, last Monday in an attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, seven Iranian officers were killed, among them Zahedi, identified as one of the boldest and most senior commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

It is now known that Zahedi arrived in Syria one day before the attack and stayed in the embassy compound together with two other senior commanders. The Iranian website states that he participated in the "establishment of the resistance front and its strengthening, as well as the planning and execution of the October 7 attack."

Despite the strike on its embassy, which in the eyes of the Iranian regime is considered a serious affront to their dignity and requires an appropriate response, Iranian officials stated that Tehran will not deviate from the approach of avoiding direct confrontation with Israel that it has adopted since the Hamas massacre, and one of them clarified: "Tehran will be forced to respond in a dramatic fashion to prevent Israel from repeating such extreme attacks, although the response threshold will be limited and aimed at deterrence."

Other Iranian sources believe that Iran will adjust its tactics in light of Monday's attack and investigate whether Zahedi's travel plans were leaked to Israel.