He added: “This is a severe and painful blow to the Iranian regime, a matter in which the Iranians are more inclined to take revenge against Israel.
“We have already eliminated several of their senior officials since October 7 on Syrian soil. This is the period when Iran wants to show that it is leading the axis of resistance.”
Israel has repeatedly targeted military officials from Iran, which supports militant groups fighting Israel in Gaza, and along its border with Lebanon.
It was not clear if Iran would respond itself, risking a dangerous confrontation with Israel and its ally the United States, or if it would continue to rely on proxies, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza nearly six months ago, those proxies have stepped up attacks, leading to near-daily cross-border exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel, and frequent Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping.
Israel, which rarely acknowledges strikes against Iranian targets, said it had no comment on the latest attack in Syria, although a military spokesman blamed Iran for a drone attack early Monday against a naval base in southern Israel.
