Israeli forces claimed of killing eight Irani officials including a top commander of the IRGC in an airstrike on Iranian embassy in Damascus on Monday.
The Israeli Air Force conducted an airstrike on a building adjacent to Iran’s embassy in Syria on Monday, resulting in the deaths of at least eight individuals, including a high-ranking Iranian commander. The Times of Israel reported this development on Monday evening.
Footage from the Damascus-area municipality of Mezzeh depicted the strike hitting a building next to the Iranian embassy. Iran’s SSN news website identified the targeted building as Iran’s consulate and ambassador’s residence.
The consulate was “flattened,” marking what it described as “an alarming apparent escalation of conflict in the Middle East, potentially pitting Israel against Iran and its allies.”
Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing sources, indicated that the death toll from the strike was at least eight, although the figure had not been officially confirmed.
Among those killed was Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior official in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), responsible for the unit’s operations in Syria and Lebanon.
Zahedi was reported to be a top commander in IRGC’s Quds Force, making him the highest-ranking Iranian military figure in Syria and Lebanon.
Tasnim also reported that Zahedi’s deputy was among those killed in the airstrike.
Iran’s ambassador in Syria warning that Iran’s response to the strike would be harsh.
Footage from the scene showed that the targeted building had been destroyed in the strike. Next to the rubble, an Iranian flag was seen flying over the Iranian embassy.
Syria’s state-run SANA broadcaster claimed air defense systems had engaged the alleged Israeli attack, downing some of the missiles.
SANA said rescue authorities were working to extract dead and wounded people from under the rubble.
In January this year, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other Iranian leaders vowed to retaliate against the Zionist regime for its “terrorist and criminal” attacks in Damascus that resulted in the death of five Iranian military advisors.
Raisi strongly condemned the assassination in a condolence letter, expressing condolences for the martyred advisors: Hojatollah Omidvar, Ali Aqazadeh, Hossein Mohammadi, Saeed Karimi, and Mohammad Amin Samadi.
Notably, pro-Iran armed groups have already attacked the US airbase in Iraq, causing fatalities among the American soldiers.
However, Iranian top leaders are talking about their own direct action against Israel to settle the killings of IRGC in Syrian airstrike.
Meanwhile, Raisi emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not let such actions go unanswered, pointing out the growing desperation and failure of the Zionist regime. He criticized the international community’s silence on these actions, labeling them as violations of human rights and international treaties.
The Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, affirmed that Iranian military advisors will continue their anti-terror mission despite Israel’s “cowardly” assassination operations.
He expressed condolences to the families of the deceased and labeled the Israeli regime as the main accomplice to terrorist currents and the enemy of regional security.
Iran’s judiciary chief, Mohseni Ejeie, extended condolences and accused the “usurping and desperate Zionists” of attacking Syria to divert attention from their actions in Gaza.
He highlighted the ongoing crimes and oppression in Gaza, asserting that the Israeli regime’s defeat there cannot be compensated by such terrorist acts.
The World Assembly of Islamic Awakening condemned the “assassination” and called for resistance against the “child-killing regime.” They warned that the regime’s actions would not go unpunished.
