Iran has vowed to launch “harsh” retaliation against Israel after an airstrike destroyed its consulate in Syria, reportedly killing a senior Iranian military adviser and about a handful of others.
The attack on the Iranian consulate building in Damascus killed seven people, Iranian Ambassador Hossein Akbari said, before condemning Israel and promising revenge for the attack “of the same magnitude and harshness.”
The ambassador added that emergency services are still searching for other bodies under the rubble, but confirmed that two police officers guarding the building were also injured in the attack.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes against targets in government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years.
These airstrikes have intensified in recent months in the context of Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and ongoing clashes between the Israeli army and Hezbollah on the Lebanese-Israeli border.
Iran has vowed to launch “harsh” retaliation against Israel after an airstrike destroyed its consulate in Damascus, Syria. Emergency services are displayed in the building today.
The attack on the Iranian consulate building killed at least seven people, an Iranian ambassador said. Emergency personnel are seen today extinguishing a fire at the site of the attacks that hit a building next to the Iranian embassy.
IRGC leader Mohammed Reza Zahedi (pictured) was killed in the attack, security sources said.
Iran condemned Israel and promised revenge for the attack “with the same magnitude and harshness.” Emergency and security personnel at the site of the attack in Damascus today
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad (center), after a meeting with Akbari, said that “several” people were killed in Monday’s airstrike and in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, condemned Israel. Mekdad pictured today at the scene of the attack.
Syria’s Defense Ministry said Israeli airstrikes on Iran’s consulate building in Damascus on Monday “destroyed the entire building, killing and wounding everyone inside.”
Footage shows the building in Syria’s capital flattened, with huge plumes of smoke rising from the site following this afternoon’s explosion and emergency workers rushing to the scene.
The attack killed Iranian military adviser Gen. Ali Reza Zahdi, who led the elite Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria until 2016, Iran’s Arabic-language state television Al-Alam and pan-Arab television station Al-Mayadeen reported.
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, after a meeting with Akbari, said “several” people were killed in Monday’s airstrike.
Mekdad, in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, condemned Israel.
Iranian state television said the Iranian ambassador’s residence was in the consular building, which was next to the embassy.
The state news agency Sana, citing an unnamed military source, said the building in the heavily guarded neighborhood of Mazzeh was razed.
Israel, which rarely acknowledges such attacks, said it had no comment on the Syrian media reports.
However, Israel has said it is targeting bases of Iran-allied militant groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.
An Israeli airstrike on a Damascus neighborhood in December killed Seyed Razi Mousavi, a former adviser to the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Syria.
A similar attack on a building in Damascus in January killed at least five Iranian advisers.
Last week, airstrikes on Syria’s strategic eastern province of Deir el-Zour, near the Iraqi border, killed an Iranian adviser.
A damaged vehicle is soaked after an airstrike next to the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, Monday, April 1, 2024.
The site of the apparent missile attack, with damage to cars and buildings nearby.
Iranian media also reported that the attacks in Damascus completely destroyed the annex building.
A damaged vehicle is removed after an airstrike next to the Iranian consulate in Damascus
An Iranian flag is seen hanging over the bombed building, which was brought down in the attack.
Smoke rises over Damascus buildings after strike
Following its usual practice, an Israeli military spokesman said: “We do not comment on foreign media reports.”
The Syrian Foreign Ministry reportedly condemned the attack and the Syrian and Iranian foreign ministers were seen at the scene.
Syria’s official SANA news agency said the building, an annex next to the embassy, had suffered major destruction and that neighboring buildings in the upmarket part of the city were also damaged.
“The Israeli enemy launched airstrikes from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting the Iranian consulate building in Damascus,” the Syrian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
“The attack destroyed the entire building, killing and injuring everyone inside, and work is underway to recover the bodies and rescue the injured from beneath the rubble.”
Iranian media reported that the attacks in Damascus completely destroyed the annex building, but said the ambassador was unharmed.
“Hossein Akbari, ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Damascus, and his family were not injured in the Israeli attack,” Iran’s Nour news agency said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said that “Israeli missiles… destroyed an annex building of the Iranian embassy… in Damascus, killing six people.”
Iran’s Tasnim news agency said five people were killed in the Israeli attack. The Syrian state news agency SANA reported an unspecified number of dead and wounded.
Syria’s Defense Ministry said Israeli airstrikes on Iran’s consulate building in Damascus on Monday “destroyed the entire building.”
Footage shows the building in Syria’s capital razed, with emergency personnel on the scene.
Smoke rises after what Iranian media said was an Israeli attack on a building near the Iranian embassy in Damascus.
A damaged vehicle is removed following an airstrike near the Iranian consulate in Damascus on Monday. The consulate was damaged and the adjacent building was destroyed
The official Syrian news agency SANA previously reported that “our air defense systems engaged enemy targets in the vicinity of Damascus.”
The incident came days after the Observatory reported Israeli strikes that killed 53 people in Syria, including 38 soldiers and seven members of Iran-backed Hezbollah.
It was the highest number of Syrian army casualties in Israeli strikes since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, the monitor said.
Since the attack by the Iranian-backed Palestinian faction Hamas on Israel on October 7, Israel has intensified airstrikes in Syria against the Lebanese militia Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), both of which support the government of the President Bashar al-Assad.