According to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, an Israeli strike on the Iranian embassy building in Damascus, the capital of Syria, resulted in the deaths of seven officers.
Among the dead were Brig-Gen Mohammad Hadi Haji-Rahimi, the deputy of Brig-Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of the special Quds Force.
The governments of Iran and Syria denounced the attack, which resulted in the demolition of the building adjacent to the Iranian embassy.
It has, however, admitted to carrying out hundreds of strikes on targets in Syria in recent years that it claims are connected to Iran and affiliated armed organizations that receive training, funding, and arms from the Revolutionary Guards.
Since the beginning of the Gaza War in October of last year, Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed organizations in Lebanon and Syria have allegedly launched cross-border attacks on northern Israel, prompting an escalation of Israeli bombings. However, Monday’s assault will be considered a significant escalation.
The Iranian consulate building, located on a roadway in Damascus’ western Mezzeh area, was the target of Israeli aircraft, according to Syria’s defense ministry, which stated the targets were coming from the occupied Golan Heights at around 17:00 local time (14:00 GMT) on Monday.
Some of their missiles were shot down by Syrian air defenses, but others of them managed to get through and “destroyed the entire building, killing and injuring everyone inside”, the ministry continued.
Without providing an exact number of casualties or identifying any of them, the ministry just stated that efforts were underway to retrieve the deceased and rescue the injured from under the debris.
