This is no April Fool’s Day joke. “Mohammad Reza Zahedi commanded the IRGC’s Quds Force in Lebanon and was sanctioned by the United States and Britain. The US Treasury sanctions designation says he acted as a “liaison” to Hezbollah and Syrian intelligence services and was reportedly charged with guaranteeing weapons shipments to Hezbollah. Israel has stepped up a campaign against Iranian proxies in Syria and Lebanon in recent weeks in response to near daily Hezbollah rocket attacks over its northern border.” This explains the following story, from which the quote is taken. “Senior IRGC commander killed in suspected Israeli strike in Damascus,” Telegraph, 4-1-24.
Israel is winning the war in the North against Iran. It pin-pointed the IRGC leader in Damascus. But Iran continues holding “hostage” (away from their homes) those Israelis who live in northern Israel. “Israel reports aerial attack on Eilat; Iraqi militia claims launch,” Reuters, 4-1-24.
Fascinating. The U.S. warned Iran about the upcoming ISIS attack, Iran ignored the U.S., Iran interrogated ISIS arrestees, Iran warned Russia, Russia even ignored Iran (as well as the U.S.). “Days before the attack in Russia, Tehran shared information with Moscow about a possible big terrorist attack inside Russia that was acquired during interrogations of those arrested in connection with deadly bombings in Iran,” one of the sources told Reuters. Iran arrested 35 people in January, including a commander of Islamic State’s Afghanistan-based branch ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K), who it said were linked to twin bombings on Jan. 3 in the city of Kerman that killed nearly 100 people.” See “Exclusive: Iran alerted Russia to security threat before Moscow attack,” Reuters, 4-1-24.
The strike killed three Quds Force generals. “Airstrike in Damascus Kills Several Top Iranian Commanders, Iran Says,” NYT, 4-1-24.