Iranian president condemns Israeli killing of "Iranian advisers" in Syria

TEHRAN -- Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi condemned Israel's "cowardly assassination" of five Iranian "military advisers" in Syria on Saturday, vowing that the country will respond to the Israeli "terrorist" attacks.

Raisi made the remarks in a statement published on the website of his office while extending condolences on the deaths of the five members of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in an Israeli airstrike on Saturday morning on a residential neighborhood in the Syrian capital Damascus.

Raisi said the killing was "a terrorist move" through "a flagrant violation of Syrian airspace," adding that Israel's attacks "will not remain unanswered by Iran."

Earlier on Saturday, the IRGC said that five of its members serving as military advisers in Syria as well as several Syrian forces and civilians were killed in the Israeli missile attack on the Mazzeh neighborhood of Damascus.

It identified the slain Iranians as Hojjatollah Omidvar, Ali Aqazadeh, Hossein Mohammadi, Saeid Karimi, and Mohammad-Amin Samadi.

According to a statement released by the Syrian army, Israel carried out the airstrike from the occupied Golan Heights at 10:20 am local time (0720 GMT) on Saturday.

Iran says it has an advisory role in Syria, where its advisers work at the invitation of Damascus. Israel has repeatedly launched airstrikes against what it calls Iran-linked targets inside Syria.