An Iranian general killed in an Israeli air strike in Syria was not its intended target, and Israel believed it was attacking only low-ranking guerrillas, Reuters quoted a senior security source as saying on Tuesday.
The remarks by the Israeli source, who declined to be identified because Israel has not officially confirmed it carried out the strike, appeared aimed at containing any escalation with Iran or Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) General Mohammed Allahdadi was killed with a Hezbollah commander and the son of the group’s late military leader, Imad Moughniyeh, in Sunday’s attack on a Hezbollah convoy near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Tehran has vowed to strike back. “These martyrdoms proved the need to stick with jihad. The Zionists must await ruinous thunderbolts,” IRGC chief Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said on Tuesday.
