Security and emergency personnel deploy around a building destroyed in an Israeli strike in Damascus on January 20, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Iran has condemned in the strongest terms the assassination of five of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) military advisors in an Israeli strike in Syria, saying it reserves the right to respond to the organized terrorism by the fake regime of Israel.

In addition to political, legal and international pursuit of these aggressive and criminal measures, the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its right to respond to the organized terrorism of the fake Zionist regime at an appropriate time and place, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani said in a statement on Saturday.

Five military advisors serving for the IRGC mission in Syria were martyred along with a number of Syrian forces in an Israeli attack on a three-story residential building in the Mezza neighborhood of Damascus, which houses several diplomatic missions.

The IRGC named its martyred advisors as Hojjatollah Omidvar, Ali Aqazadeh, Hossein Mohammadi, Saeed Karimi and Mohammad Amin Samadi.

Iran maintains an advisory mission in Syria at the request of Damascus with the aim of helping the war-torn Arab country vanquish the foreign-backed militants who have been fighting the democratically-elected Syrian government since 2011.

Kan’ani slammed repeated violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the escalation of aggressive and provocative attacks on various targets in the Arab country by the regime.

He said Israel’s criminal acts indicate its desperation in the fight against the resistance forces in the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank in more than the past 100 days and a desperate attempt to spread instability and insecurity in the region.

The Iranian official urged the international community and organizations, particularly the United Nations Security Council, to show an explicit reaction and categorically condemn the aggressive measures by the terrorist regime of Israel.

He said the Iranian advisors have always played a leading role in helping Syria fight terrorism and establish sustainable peace in the Arab country.

The assassination of Iranian military advisors in Syria by the Zionist regime clearly shows a deep and organized bond between this terrorist regime and various terrorist groups, including Daesh, in the region, Kan’ani stated.

Israel frequently targets military positions inside Syria, especially those of resistance fighters who have played a key role in helping the Syrian army in its fight against the foreign-backed terrorists.

The regime has over the past months carried out airstrikes on various locations in Syria and Lebanon as the illegal entity attempts to expand its aggression against the Palestinians in Gaza to other fronts across the region.