TEHRAN- An explosive device that went off close to the Syrian capital Damascus claimed the life of a senior member of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Division.

Colonel Davoud Jafari, a military advisor in the war-torn Syria, was martyred on Tuesday when a bomb planted by an Israeli agent on the side of a road close to Damascus exploded, according to a statement from the IRGC.

The IRGC held Israel directly responsible for the terrorist attack. It added the fraudulent and criminal Tel Aviv regime will “unquestionably” pay the price “for this crime”.

The statement stated that Jafari's body would be returned to Iran in the coming days.

At the request of Damascus, Iran maintains an advisory mission in Syria with the goal of helping the war-torn Arab country get rid of the extremists who have been fighting against the Syrian government since 2011.

With Iran's help, Syria was able to eliminate the terrorist organization Daesh in 2017.

The defeat of the Takfiri group was made possible in large part by Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in a U.S. airstrike close to Baghdad International Airport in January 2020.

Israel has been a major ally of the terrorist organizations operating in Syria and has attacked locations of Iranian military advisors as well as those of the Syrian army and opposition organizations who have been battling the terrorists.

General Abolfazl Alijani, a senior member of the IRGC Ground Force, was also assassinated in Syria in August.

Two Iranian advisors called Colonel Ehsan Karbalayi-Poor and Colonel Morteza Saeed Nejad, according to the IRGC, were also martyred in an Israeli missile assault in the Damascus countryside back in March.

IRGC spokesman Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif said at the time that the Israeli regime will be dealt with decisively for the killing of the two advisors.

“The Zionist adversary is aware that it won't gain anything from such acts and would face a harsh retaliation,” he remarked. 

In a statement, the IRGC swore to exact revenge for the deaths of its two advisors. 

The Zionist regime will undoubtedly pay a price for this atrocity, the IRGC public relations office declared in a statement at the time.