Iran's Supreme Leader embraces mourners and leads prayers for seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps killed in 'Israeli airstrike' in Syrian capital - as regime vows retaliation
Iran's Supreme Leader embraced mourners ahead of the funeral of seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in the Syrian capital.
Iranian state media said 13 people were killed in the strike in which, according to Tehran's ambassador, Israeli F-35 jets fired six missiles that levelled a five-storey consular building adjacent to the embassy in Damascus.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, vowed to retaliate by threatening that Israel will 'be slapped' and continue to fail on the battlefield in Gaza.
Khamenei was seen praying over the coffins of the seven members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards today ahead of their funeral ceremony tomorrow.
The supreme leader led prayers for the dead, the official IRNA news agency said.
The bodies of the Guards were repatriated overnight, according to the ISNA news agency.
A funeral ceremony will take place in Tehran on Friday, coinciding with the annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day commemorations, when Iran and its allies hold marches in support of the Palestinians.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (centre) praying over the coffins of members of the Iranian revolutionary guards corps
Khamenei conversing with families and relatives of Revolutionary Guard Corps members killed in a strike
Khamenei talking with families and relatives of the Iranian revolutionary guards corps who were killed in Syria
Khamenei praying over the coffins of members of the Iranian revolutionary guards corps
The supreme leader led prayers for the dead, the official IRNA news agency said
Rescue workers search in the rubble of a building annexed to the Iranian embassy a day after an air strike in Damascus on April 2
Iran has said that among the dead were two brigadier generals from the Guards' foreign operations arm, the Quds Force, Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi and Mohammad Reza Zahedi.
A Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Zahedi was the Quds Force commander for Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.
Iran has vowed to retaliate. Israel 'will be punished at the hands of our brave men. We will make them regret this crime and the other ones', Khamenei said on Tuesday.
The following day he said the strike was a 'desperate' effort by Israel that 'will not save them from defeat' in Gaza. 'Of course they will be slapped for that action.'
In a statement for Quds Day, Iran's foreign ministry renewed the 'support of the Islamic republic for the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people' against Israel.
The European Union on Wednesday condemned the airstrike, which has been widely blamed on Israel, and called on countries in the region to show restraint.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for the strike, one of the most significant yet on Iranian interests in Syria.
Iran and its allies - including the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and other armed groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen - have repeatedly traded fire with Israel and the US since the start of Israel's war on Hamas.
Iran said the strike killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members, including two commanders of the Quds Force - the Guards' foreign operations arm - Brigadier Generals Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi.
Zahedi, 63, had held a succession of commands in the force in a Guards career spanning more than four decades.
Khamenei praying over the coffins of members of the Iranian revolutionary guards corps who were killed in Syria, ahead of their funeral in Tehran tomorrow
Khamenei prays next to the Coffins of members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today ahead of the funeral tomorrow
In Syria, a funeral was held for the slain Revolutionary Guard members at a holy Shiite shrine in Damascus, official state media reported.
The main funeral ceremony of the IRGC members would be held tomorrow, during an annual pro-Palestine rally, called al-Quds day.
'The defeat of the Zionist regime in Gaza will continue and this regime will be close to decline and dissolution,' Khamenei vowed in his speech on Wednesday.
Iran's supreme leader, who has the final say in major state policies, urged people to take to the streets for this year's event.
'If in previous years, Quds Day was celebrated only in Islamic countries, this year, most likely, Quds Day will also be celebrated in non-Islamic countries.'
He also said he hoped for a day that 'the Muslim world can celebrate the destruction of Israel.'
Meanwhile, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said the attack 'will not remain without answer.'
The airstrike Monday destroyed Iran's Consulate in Damascus. It's not clear if and when Iran would respond, but any retaliation from Tehran would risk a dangerous confrontation with Israel and the US.
