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Beirut (Lebanon) (AFP)

Israel's strike on a Syrian airbase this week has put it in direct confrontation with regional foe Iran, the head of Lebanon's Tehran-backed Hezbollah movement said on Friday.

"The Israelis committed a historic mistake... and put themselves in direct combat with Iran," Hassan Nasrallah warned in a televised address.

Seven Iranian personnel were killed in Monday's early-morning strike on the T-4 air base in Syria, but Tehran had not specified which units the fighters belonged to.

On Friday, Nasrallah said the casualties were elite Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the first to be targeted by Israel in Syria's long-running conflict.

"This is unprecedented in seven years: that Israel directly targets Iran's Revolutionary Guard," Nasrallah said.

"This is a turning point for the region, and what came before is not what will come after," he warned.

Israel is believed to have carried out numerous raids inside Syria since 2013 but it rarely admits to them publicly.

It declined to comment on accusations by the Syrian government and ally Russia that Israeli forces were behind the T-4 strike.

Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah fighters have a presence at the base, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Observatory said a total of 14 fighters, including Iranians, died in the strike.

Moscow has said no Russians were killed in the attack.

© 2018 AFP