Israel Times Report: Zahedi Was a Member of the 'Hezbollah Council'

A source close to Hezbollah Lebanon stated that the IRGC commander killed in the attack on the Syrian capital was a member of the 'Hezbollah Council', the decision-making body of this Lebanese armed group. This news was published by 'Israel Times' in a report using a French news agency report on Monday. The airstrike on April 1, attributed to Israel, destroyed a building that the Islamic Republic claims was the consular section of its embassy in Damascus and killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two of its important commanders responsible for the Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of the Quds Force, was the arm of the IRGC's foreign operations. The report, citing a source whose name was not disclosed due to the sensitivity of the issue, stated that Zahedi was the only non-Lebanese member of the eight-member Hezbollah Council, which is led by Hassan Nasrallah. Nasrallah had previously stated in a speech that Hezbollah owed its existence to the slain IRGC commander. According to the U.S. Department of State, it is estimated that the Islamic Republic gives hundreds of millions of dollars to this group annually. The United States classified Hezbollah Lebanon as a terrorist organization in the late 1990s. The U.S. State Department also described Hezbollah in 2010 as the most technically powerful terrorist group in the world and a security threat to the United States. Yoav Gallant, Israel's Defense Minister, stated last year that the Islamic Republic gives $700 million a year to Hezbollah. Iranian officials have not clarified how much they pay Hezbollah, which part of the budget funds this amount, and in what form it is provided. Protesters in Iran have repeatedly chanted against the Islamic Republic's financial support for Hezbollah and Palestinian groups, calling for attention to development within Iran. Iranian officials have repeatedly threatened to respond to the recent attack attributed to Israel. However, some Twitter accounts monitoring various conflicts wrote on Sunday that the Iranian government apparently has backed off from implementing its threat or has been 'bluffing' all along. Nonetheless, on Monday, Ali Fadavi, the deputy commander of the IRGC, reiterated the usual threats, stating that 'the IRGC...acts in a way that makes the enemy regret their actions.' He did not provide further explanation. The Iranian government has often made such threats after the deaths of commanders and other members of the IRGC, sometimes even claiming to have responded to the deaths of its forces without clearly stating what actions it took. Conflicting reports have emerged regarding the Islamic Republic's proposal not to react to the Israeli attack in exchange for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army: 'We are prepared to counter the threats from the Islamic Republic.' Israel: 'We are not seeking war with Iran, but we will do whatever is necessary to defend ourselves.' A senior advisor to Khamenei threatened Israeli embassies: 'We must wait to see how it will unfold.'