Hezi Simantov, a commentator and correspondent for Arab affairs of 'News 13', spoke Tuesday morning with Nissim Mashal and Anat Davidov on 103FM about the assassination of the senior Iranian Mohammad Reza Zahedi, commander of the Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon, and the expected consequences.

First of all, according to the reports from Syria and Iran, the Israeli Air Force allegedly attacked a building adjacent to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, where several senior Iranian officials were located, among them Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who is actually the deputy commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards in Syria and Lebanon," Simantov began. 

"A very senior member of the Iranian hierarchy, he managed the entire operation of smuggling weapons from Syria to Lebanon. He was a very senior person who can be said to have given Israel a lot of headaches in the last twenty years for all his exploits in his involvement in terrorism. This is the most senior Iranian who has been eliminated so far since October 7 on Syrian soil," he continued.

"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. 

Hamas's utility waning

"[As an Iranian asset] Hamas is currently at a disadvantage because of the fighting in Gaza, and this does not mean that tomorrow morning, the Iranians will try to do something impulsive. They will perhaps try to activate their militias in Syria or the Houthis in Yemen.