An Iranian officer described as a military adviser has been killed in suspected Israeli air strikes near the Syrian city of Aleppo, nearly two months after the Islamic republic warned it would retaliate against attacks on its interests.
Saeed Abyar, a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), was one of 17 people killed in the attack during the early hours of June 3, the IRGC-linked Tasnim news agency reported.
Neither the IRGC nor the Iranian government has officially commented on the Aleppo strike. However, Iran’s caretaker foreign minister, Ali Baqeri Kani, arrived in Syria on June 4 on the second leg of a regional tour that started in Lebanon a day earlier.
Abyar is the first IRGC officer killed in an Israeli strike since the April 1 bombing of the Iranian Embassy compound in Damascus. That attack killed seven members of the IRGC, including two generals.
Iran responded by launching an unprecedented missile and drone attack against Israel and warned that a "new equation" had been established whereby Tehran would retaliate against any Israeli attacks on its interests in the region.
SEE ALSO: Iran Versus Israel: Who Has The Military Edge?Raz Zimmt, a senior researcher at the Israeli-based Institute for National Security Studies, told RFE/RL that Israel's intended target was likely an ammunition depot and Abyar was one of over a dozen people who were near the impact site.
Regardless, he said, Israel has shown it is not deterred by Iran’s threats of retaliation as shown by its continued strikes in Syria, where the IRGC has for years maintained a contingent of so-called military advisers.
"I'm not convinced Iran -- and thus Israel -- understands what the 'new equation' is," Zimmt argued. "It is improbable that Iran meant to retaliate to every attack on an Iranian target in Syria with a direct attack on Israel, let alone the accidental killing of an Iranian officer."
Tehran has maintained a heavy military presence in Syria, while Israel has periodically carried out attacks against Iranian-linked sites in the country, often targeting IRGC commanders.