Iranian general reportedly assassinated while traveling from Syria

BEIRUT — A high-ranking member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps was assassinated this week while traveling from Syria to neighboring Lebanon, Iranian media reported Thursday, in the strongest indication to date that senior Iranian military commanders have been dispatched to Syria.

Gen. Hassan Shateri was killed Tuesday by “unknown gunmen,” described as “suspected Israeli agents,” as he was on the road between the Syrian capital of Damascus and Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, various Iranian news agencies reported.

…The Iranian media accounts did not specify exactly where the general was killed, but they labeled the death an “assassination,” indicating that he was targeted. If his death occurred in Syria, Shateri would be the first senior Iranian commander publicly known to have been killed in the Syrian conflict.

…Reuters reported that Syrian rebels took credit for the attack. The Iranian general was killed near the Syrian town of Zabadani, close to the Lebanese border, a rebel commander told Reuters.