According to Iranian media, a colonel of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards was killed in an attack with a hand-made explosive near Damascus.

In a written statement, the Revolutionary Guards said: "One of the Iranian advisers in Syria and a member of the Revolutionary Guards Air Defense Force, Colonel Davud Jafari, was killed by a hand-made bomb left by the roadside near Damascus by the partners of the Zionist regime."

The attack was reported to have taken place on Monday. No one took responsibility for the attack.

Dozens of Iranian soldiers were killed during the war in Syria. Tehran has long argued that its soldiers in Syria only act as military advisers.

Israeli officials have said in many previous statements that they will prevent Iran from taking root in Syria.

Israel has carried out hundreds of attacks in Syria, but rarely made statements about these attacks.