TEHRAN- The assassination of a top Iranian military advisor by Israel in Syria has been denounced by President Ebrahim Raisi, who further emphasized that the occupying regime will be held accountable for the crime.

On Sunday, President Raisi paid an unscheduled visit to the family of martyr Brigadier General Seyed Razi Mousavi, expressing condolences to his family.

The Iranian president labeled the murder a “cowardly act,” adding that the martyrs’ sacrifices and commitment form the foundation of the country’s security and power.

“The services and sacrifices of this great commander in supporting and strengthening the Islamic resistance front will forever remain honored,” he added.

Raisi went on to blame the Israeli regime’s horrific act on its incompetence and indignance at the resistance movement in the region.

He declared, “This crime will definitely not go unpunished, and the Zionist criminals will pay for this crime.”

Mousavi, a senior IRGC commander, was martyred in a missile attack by the regime against the Sayyeda Zeinab neighborhood of the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday. 

He was martyred while serving as part of Iran’s military advisory mission in the Arab country.

The strike occurred in the midst of the Israeli regime’s battle against Gaza, which began on October 7 in response to an operation known as Operation al-Aqsa Storm that was orchestrated by the resistance movements in the Palestinian territory.

At Damascus’ request, Iran keeps an advising mission in Syria with the goal of assisting the war-torn nation in eliminating the extremists supported by foreign powers who have been resisting the democratically elected Syrian government since 2011.

Earlier in December, Israel killed two IRGC military advisors - Mohammad Ali Ataee Shoorcheh and Panah Taqizadeh - in an attack in Syria.

The two officers were slain, according to a statement released by the IRGC, amid the Israeli regime’s “fake and child-killing” brutality in Gaza.