Khamenei Leads Funeral Prayer for Mousavi

Iranian leader Ali Khamenei led prayers today, Thursday, at the funeral of Sayyed Razi Mousavi, a senior advisor to the Revolutionary Guard who was killed in what Iran claims was an Israeli airstrike in Syria. State television reported that Khamenei praised "the tireless struggle of this martyr and prayed for him to be among God's allies." His body was previously flown from Syria to the holy city of Najaf in Iraq before being transported to Tehran. An Israeli army spokesperson refrained from specifically commenting on Mousavi's death on Monday but stated that the military takes all necessary measures to defend the country. Since the outbreak of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement (Hamas), groups allied with Iran have intensified their operations against Israel, while others, including militias in Iraq, threaten American interests. Israel has been conducting attacks for years against what it describes as Iran-linked targets in Syria, where Tehran's influence has grown since it supported President Bashar Assad in the civil war that began in Syria in 2011.