According to Iran’s Arabic-language state television Al-Alam, she was the building of the Iranian consulate was completely destroyed by an air attack. The Syrian Ministry of Defense quoted by AFP said that all persons who were there at the time were killed or injured.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahyan, according to local media cited by Reuters, made Israel responsible for the consequences of the attack on the consulate. According to him, the act is a “violation of all international conventions”.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran, si Iran reserves the right to take “reciprocal action” in response to an Israeli attack. “Tehran will decide on the type of response and punishment against the aggressor,” the ministry said.
The Revolutionary Guards in an evening statement confirmed earlier reports by Reuters and Iranian media that one of the commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Reza Zahadi, was killed in the attack. According to the media, he commanded the Iranian Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon since 2016, which supports Tehran’s network of allies abroad.
The statement mentions Mohammad Rahimi as the second of the Revolutionary Guard generals killed in Damascus today.
Iranian Ambassador to Syria Hossein Akbari condemned the attack and said seven people were killed. According to him, the rescuers are still searching under the rubble. Among the injured are two policemen who were guarding the building. He threatened Israel with severe retaliation, Reuters reported.
“We do not comment on news in foreign media,” said a spokeswoman for the Israeli army, according to Reuters.
For many years, Israel in Syria has been attacking targets linked to Iran or Tehran, supported by the Lebanese Hezbollah movement. However, according to AP, the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus seems to foreshadow the intensification of these strikes, which have already intensified since last October, when the Palestinian movement Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel. Targets near Damascus were also targeted by airstrikes on Sunday. More than 50 people were killed in airstrikes in northwestern Syria on Friday, including Syrian soldiers and members of Hezbollah, according to the Syrian opposition-exile organization SOHR.