Iranian military adviser killed in Israeli airstrikes on Syrian city

Israeli airstrikes on the Syrian city of Aleppo early Monday killed an Iranian military adviser, according to Iranian media.

CNN has contacted the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment, but it does not regularly acknowledge strikes.

Saeed Abiyar, an adviser to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Syria, died in the attack, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

Abiyar is believed to be the first IRGC member to be killed by Israel since April, when Israel bombed Iran’s embassy compound in Damascus, killing several commanders.

The latest incident occurred around 12.20 a.m. local time on Monday after Israel launched an aerial attack with missiles, targeting “a number of points” in the vicinity of Aleppo city, Syrian state media SANA reported, without giving a total number of fatalities.

Iran has deployed military advisers to Syria since civil war broke out there in 2011, in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

During its war in Gaza against Hamas, which receives significant backing from Iran, Israel has launched several strikes on targets in Syria.

In response to April’s attack, Iran launched its first-ever direct strikes on Israel, firing over 300 airborne weapons, most of which were shot down. In a tit-for-tat exchange, Israel fired back a US official told CNN, targeting a major Iranian military airbase near Isfahan.