An Israeli airstrike has destroyed an Iranian consulate next to the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus, reportedly killing seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials, including Iranian Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi and his deputy.
“Israeli warplanes struck the Iranian consulate in Damascus on Monday, and a Lebanese security source told Reuters a senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, had been killed in the attack.
Reuters reporters at the scene in the Mezzeh district of the Syrian capital saw smoke rising from rubble of a building that had been flattened, and emergency vehicles parked outside.
An Israeli military spokesperson said: ‘We do not comment on reports in the foreign media’.
Syrian state television confirmed the consulate building had been attacked. Earlier, Iranian media reported that a building close to the embassy had been hit, and Iran's student news agency reported that the target was the consulate and ambassador's residence.
Since the Iranian-backed Palestinian faction Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7th, Israel has ramped up airstrikes in Syria against Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia and Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), both of which support the government of President Bashar al-Assad”. -Reuters
The airstrike on Damascus marks a significant escalation in Israeli attacks on Iranians in the region and increases the likelihood of direct Iranian military involvement in the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip.