Iranian Advisor Among Several Killed In Suspected Israeli Strikes On Syria’s Deir Ezzor (Videos)

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A series of airstrikes that targeted the eastern Syria governorate of Deir Ezzor on March 26 claimed the lives of more than a dozen people, including an military adviser from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a civilian engineer working for the World Health Organization (WHO).

The airstrikes hit the government-held part of the governorate, which is located on the western bank of the Euphrates River, targeting the city of Deir Ezzor and its outskirts as well as the towns of al-Mayadin and al-Bukamal in the southern countryside.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a pro-opposition monitoring group, reported that the airstrikes killed 18 people including an IRGC adviser, two of his bodyguards as well as nine Iraqi fighters from an Iran-backed group, four Syrians working with the Iranians and another working with Lebanon’s Hezbollah. It added that a Syrian civilian engineer was also killed.

Iranian state media later confirmed that an IRGC advisor was killed in the airstrikes on Deir Ezzor, identifying him as Behruz Vahedi.

This was not however acknowledged by state media in Syria. A military official told the Syrian Arab News Agency that teh strikes claimed the lives of seven Syrian troops and a civilian. 22 others, including 19 troops and 13 civilians, were wounded according to the official.

The WHO later announced that one of its team members, engineer Emad Shehab, was killed in one of the airstrikes that hit Deir Ezzor. The organization said that Shehab, 42, served as a WHO focal point for water, sanitation, and hygiene in the province since 2022.

Syria held the United States responsible for the deadly airstrikes with the foreign ministry calling the attack a “brutal American aggression,” and vowing to hold the perpetrators accountable in an official statement.

“Syria condemns this aggression and affirms its right to self-defense and to hold the aggressor accountable through the means stated by international law. It cannot forget those who attack its lands and commit crimes against its people,” the statement reads.

However, the U.S. denied these accusations. An American military official told Al-Monitor that the airstrikes on Deir Ezzor were not carried out by the U.S.

This left Israel as the main suspect in the airstrikes. The Israeli military, which hit targets in Deir Ezzor more than once in the past in coordination with the U.S., had escalated strikes against Syria after the outbreak of the war in the Palestinian Gaza Strip, mainly targeting Syrian military sites as well as personnel from the IRGC and affiliated forces.

Despite the U.S. denying responsibility for the deadly airstrikes. A drone attack targeted a U.S. base located at the Conoco gas plant in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside just a few hours after the airstrikes. The SOHR said that Iranian-backed forces were behind the attack, which was the first to target American forces in Syria in over a month.

All in all, the airstrikes on Deir Ezzor highlight how Syria remains a key front in the struggle between the Iran-led Axis of Resistance and U.S.-backed Israel. The airstrikes will likely lead to an escalation against both Israel and the U.S.

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