Senior commander among dead after Israeli air strike on Iranian consulate in Damascus, threats of 'harsh' response
A senior Iranian commander is dead along with several others after a suspected Israeli air strike on Iran's consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus.
Iranian state media said Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), had been killed and that Tehran believed he was the target of the strike.
Iranian Ambassador Hossein Akbari condemned Israel and said as many as seven people were killed, but first responders were still searching for any other bodies under the rubble. He said two police officers who guard the building were wounded.
He said Tehran's response would be "harsh".
In comments to the media after meeting the Iranian ambassador, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said "several" people were killed. Mr Mekdad in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, condemned Israel over the attack.
The strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus is "a breach of all international conventions", Mr Amirabdollahian said.
Israel, which has repeatedly hit Iranian targets during the six-month war in Gaza, declined to comment on the incident, following its usual practice.
An Israeli military spokesperson said it did not comment on reports in the foreign media.
Iran's Tasnim news agency said five people were killed in the Israeli strike. Syria's SANA state news agency reported an unspecified number of deaths and injuries.
Since the Iranian-backed Palestinian faction Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, Israel has ramped up airstrikes in Syria against Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia and Iran's Guards, both of which support the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Reuters/AP/AFP