Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei performed funeral prayers on Thursday for Razi Mousavi, a top IRGC commander who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Syria.

This gesture underscores the high regard Khamenei held for the slain commander, as he typically reserves funeral prayers for those in his inner circle, such as Qassem Suleimani, another key IRGC operative, who was killed in a targeted US air strike in Iraq in 2020.

On Thursday, Khamenei also met with the family of Razi Mousavi and hailed his years of “indefatigable jihad”.

Razi Mousavi (aka Seyyed Razi) was killed by a direct airstrike Monday, believed to have been launched by Israel. He headed IRGC’s ‘logistics’ and military coordination in Syria, getting weapons for and coordinating Iran-backed forces in Syria and Lebanon.

He had been active in Syria for more than 25 years, and had escaped multiple Israeli attempts on his life, according to reports in IRGC-affiliated media.

Iranian regime officials have vowed retaliation against Israel, with one general suggesting that October 7 Hamas attack was already an act of revenge for Soleimani’s killing.

President Ebrahim Raisi pleged that “Israel will face the consequences for Mousavi's death.” Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian stressed that Tel Aviv “must brace for a formidable countdown.”

Following the death of the commander, Iran's proxies in the region have intensified their attacks against Israeli and American targets. The US fleet in the Red Sea intercepted 17 drones and missiles on Tuesday.

Destroyers and fighter jets from the USS Eisenhower were forced to shoot down “twelve one-way attack drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles, and two land attack cruise missiles” in the Red Sea –all fired by Iran-backed Houthis in 10 hours, according to the US Central Command.