Israel destroys Iranian embassy in Damascus | Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was among the 11 dead

At least 11 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Monday when an Iranian embassy compound in Syria was hit., including seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Hossein Akbari, Iran's ambassador to Syria, was unharmed after the attack, which the Islamic Republic vowed to retaliate “severely”. The attack coincided with a second day of protests by thousands of Israelis calling for early elections and the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Iranian state television reported that “Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, one of the senior commanders of the Quds Force, was martyred in an attack by Zionist regime fighters against the embassy building of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Damascus.” His deputy, Sardar Haji Rahimi, was killed along with five other officers and Hussain Yusuf, a member of Hezbollah.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based NGO with a large network of informants in Syria, said the “death toll from Israeli bombing of the Iranian embassy compound is rising”: eight Iranians, two. “Syrians and one Lebanese, all of them fighters, no civilians”.

Israeli peace

There has been no comment from Israel, which has stepped up its Iranian-backed attacks against other groups linked to the Palestinian movement since the October 7 war in the Gaza Strip against Hamas. Asked about the attack at a press conference in Israel, Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel HagariHe replied that he had no comment “Information from Foreign Press”.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Meghdad, “We strongly condemn this heinous terrorist attack,” which caused many deaths and injuries, according to the Syrian Ministry of Defense. “Israeli enemies launched airstrikes from the occupied Syrian Golan“Directed against the Iranian embassy building in Damascus,” the ministry said.

“The attack destroyed the entire building, killing and injuring everyone inside, and efforts are underway to recover bodies and rescue the injured from the rubble,” Meghdad added. An AFP correspondent at the scene confirmed that the embassy's annex, located in a wealthy neighborhood of Damascus, was destroyed in the attack. Only the door of the bombed building stands with a sign reading “Consular Section of the Embassy of Iran”.

A building next to the Iranian embassy was completely destroyed in a blast in Damascus, Iranian state media said. Syrian air defense systems “engaged enemy targets around Damascus,” SANA agency reported.

Russia accused Israel of carrying out an “unacceptable” attack. “We pay special attention to the fact that the attack was carried out in a densely populated metropolitan area, which created a high risk of mass casualties among civilians. We proceed from the fact that such aggressive actions by Israel are completely unacceptable. They will stop,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

The Islamist movement Hamas condemned the attack in “the strongest terms” and said it represented a “dangerous escalation”. Iran-backed Hezbollah has warned that Israel will pay for the killing of senior members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The bombing “will not go unpunished and unretaliated by the enemy,” the Lebanese Shia group said in a statement.

The United States has clarified that it is gathering more information on the attack on the Iranian embassy in Syria before issuing an official position. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller emphasized that, as a general rule, the United States is concerned about “anything that escalates conflict in the region.”

Iran vows to retaliate

The Iranian government promised a “severe response” to Israel. “The Zionist regime is acting against international laws, so it will receive a severe response from us,” Hossein Akbari, Iran's ambassador to Syria, told Iranian state television from Damascus. The diplomat witnessed the attack on the embassy from the embassy window. F-35 fighter jets fired six missiles at Iranian facilities.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir AbdolahianConsidered an attack on the consulate”Violation of all international obligations and conventions I blame the consequences of this action on the Zionist regime.” In a conversation with his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Meghdad, Abdallahian stressed “the need for a strong response by the international community to such criminal acts.”

30 Israeli strikes against Syria in 2024

An Iranian diplomat opined that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “completely lost his mental balance due to the repeated failures of the Israeli regime in Gaza”. about this The bloodiest attack on Iranian soldiers in Syria so far this yearTo date eight deaths have been recorded from Israeli bombings, including two of Revolutionary Guards.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates 30 Israeli strikes against Syrian territory in 2024. Last December, Said, an adviser to the Revolutionary Guard, was killed in an attack similar to Monday's on the outskirts of Damascus. Raji Mousavi.

Iran has been a key ally of Damascus in the war in Syria, Tehran provided economic and political support to its key allies in the Middle East and sent soldiers and military advisers. In addition, Tehran leads the so-called Axis of Resistance, an informal alliance made up of militant organizations such as Hezbollah, Houthi rebels and the Islamist movement Hamas.

Iran and the Islamic Republic of Israel are bitter enemies who pose an existential threat to each other, vying for regional supremacy and maintaining a covert war of cyber attacks, assassinations and sabotage.