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Three-minute read<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Authorities in Iran held funeral services on Wednesday for two generals from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who had been killed the previous day<\/a> in an apparent Israeli strike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus. Meanwhile, the official death toll from that strike rose to at least 16, including several other Iranians and an officer from the regime\u2019s Lebanese militant proxy, Hezbollah.<\/p>\n While the Iranian regime celebrated the two deceased generals, international media provided additional information about their backgrounds and roles both within the IRGC and in Syria, where the hardline paramilitary group was instrumental in preserving the government of Bashar<\/a> al-Assadi through a years-long, multilateral civil war.<\/p>\n Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi had reportedly served as head of the Syrian and Lebanese division of the IRGC\u2019s foreign special operations wing, the Quds Force, until 2016. He was killed in Tuesday\u2019s strike alongside his deputy, General Mohammad Hadi Hajriahimi. While Hezbollah provided little information about its own eliminated member Hussein Youssef, it did publicly credit Zahedi with a crucial role in helping to \u201cdevelop and advance the work\u201d of that group within Lebanon.<\/p>\n Zahedi\u2019s broader role in the IRGC apparently involved the facilitation of weapons transfers and associated military support from Tehran to its militant proxies, as well as assistance in creating strategies for the regime\u2019s so-called \u201cAxis of Resistance.\u201d Zahedi\u2019s presence in Damascus implies that other IRGC officers had already assumed the roles he had previously played inside Iran, but reports indicate that he had indeed been heavily involved in the suppression of domestic dissent, including during the nationwide uprising of November 2019 which led to roughly 1,500 Iranian civilians<\/a> being shot dead by the IRGC. Three years earlier, he appeared in a video shot by the IRGC which depicted joint exercises between it and the police and showcased both the strategies and the views of paramilitary operatives toward public protests and expressions of dissent.<\/p>\n Why Firmness Will Prevent War with #Iran<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/FldhbJpZ3X<\/a><\/p>\n — NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) April 3, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n