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Israeli planes hit the Iranian consulate in Damascus on Monday. A Lebanese security source told Reuters that a senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, was killed in the attack.
Earlier, Iranian media reported that a building near the embassy was hit, and Iran’s Student news agency said the targets were the consulate and the ambassador’s residence. But Syrian state television confirmed the bombing of the consulate.
An Israeli army spokesman said only that “we do not comment on reports in foreign media”.
Syria’s state news agency SANA said one of the buildings was demolished and neighboring houses were also damaged. According to activists from the exile organization SOHR, six people were killed at the site of the attack near the Iranian embassy. However, it is not clear from the report whether the affected building was part of the Iranian embassy grounds or not, DPA said.
According to the Iranian state radio, whose information is referred to by DPA, it is unlikely that any employees would be in the embassy building during the religious holiday. Iranian state media later reported that the Iranian ambassador and his family escaped unharmed.
Israel has stepped up airstrikes in Syria against the Lebanese Hezbollah militia and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which support the government of President Bashar al-Assad, since October 7, when the Iranian-backed Palestinian faction Hamas attacked its territory.
Targets near Damascus were also targeted by airstrikes on Sunday. On Friday, airstrikes in northwest Syria killed more than 50 people, including Syrian soldiers and members of Hezbollah, according to SOHR.
