At least eight people, including a top Iranian commander, were killed after an Israeli airstrike hit a building near the Embassy of Iran in Syria’s capital Damascus on Monday, according to reports by Iranian media outlets.
“Israeli missiles… destroyed the building of an annex to the Iranian embassy… in Damascus, killing eight people,” said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The report, carried in most of the country’s official outlets, gave no further details. The SNN agency earlier said the Iranian consulate and ambassador’s residence were targeted, without giving further details.
“Hossein Akbari, ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Damascus, and his family were not harmed in the Israeli attack,” Iran’s Nour news agency said.
Two AFP correspondents at the site confirmed the building next to the embassy, had been razed to the ground by the strike.
In a statement, IIran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)’s public relations wing announced the killing of Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon, his deputy Gen. Hadi Haj Rahimi and five other military personnel in the strike.
The five other slain men were identified as Hossein Amanollahi, Seyyed Mahdi Jalalati, Mohsen Sadaqat, Ali Agha Babaei and Syed Ali Salehi Rozbahani, all officers of IRGC.
The statement said Israel carried out the attack “following its irreparable defeat against the Palestinian resistance.”
It further said the transfer, funeral and burial of the slain IRGC officers will be announced at a later date.
Zahedi was a veteran IRGC commander who previously commanded the IRGC’s ground force and air force and also served as the deputy commander of the IRGC’s military operations.
The missile strike reportedly targeted a building that served as the Iranian Embassy’s consular affairs department as well as the residence of the Iranian ambassador.
Speaking to the media after the attack, Akbari said the building was attacked with F-35 warplanes and six missiles, killing several Iranian military undersecretaries.
Akbari said the attack is against all international conventions and will see a “decisive response.”
Since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, Israel has ramped up airstrikes in Syria against Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), both of which support the government of President Bashar Assad.
Russia condemns ‘Israeli attack’ on Iran’s diplomatic mission in Damascus
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday condemned the “Israeli attack” on Iran’s diplomatic mission in Damascus and urged Tel Aviv to abandon “provocative military actions” in Syria and other neighboring countries.
Any attacks on diplomatic missions are unacceptable, the ministry said in a statement.
“On the evening of April 1, the Israeli Air Force attacked the Iranian Consulate building in Damascus. As a result of the attack, the building was completely destroyed. According to incoming information, there are a significant number of dead and injured, including diplomats.
“We strongly condemn this attack on the Iranian consular mission in Syria. We consider categorically unacceptable any encroachments on diplomatic and consular facilities, the inviolability of which is guaranteed by the relevant Vienna Conventions,” it stressed.
Israeli “aggressive actions” are “absolutely unacceptable and must be stopped,” the ministry said, urging the international community “to give a clearly defined position and an appropriate legal assessment of these actions.”
“We urge the Israeli leadership to abandon the practice of provocative military actions on the territory of Syria and other neighboring countries, which is fraught with extremely dangerous consequences throughout the region,” it said.
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