- Israel blamed for deadly airstrike on Iranian consulate in Syria
- Senior Iranian commanders killed; tension escalates in Middle East
- Global condemnation follows the attack, including from Hamas supporters
The assault claimed the lives of Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander, and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, a deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran.
Iran has attributed the fatal airstrike on its consulate in Syria, which claimed the lives of two of its most senior military commanders, to Israel.
A senior commander of the elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Mohammad Reza Zahedi, perished in the explosion that devastated the Iranian consulate in Damascus, the capital of Syria.
As reported by the IRGC, Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, a deputy commander in the Quds Force, perished alongside five other officers.
They are the highest-ranking force leaders to have perished since January 2020, when Qassem Soleimani was assassinated in Iraq by the United States.
The IRGC and Iran’s foreign ministry both attributed responsibility for the strike to Israel, calling it an “abhorrent” and “brutal” assault.
Ambassador Hossein Akbari of Iran to Damascus, who was not injured in the attack, declared that the Islamic Republic would respond “vigorously.”
Israel refused to provide a statement regarding the incident. Additionally, the White House failed to respond to a request for comment immediately.
According to an American official quoted by the news website Axios, the United States informed Iran that it “had no involvement” in or advanced notice of an Israeli attack on a diplomatic compound in Syria.
The destruction of the Iranian consulate and the fatalities of the two commanders are likely to exacerbate tensions in the Middle East.
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Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, described the attack as “a violation of every international convention.”
The nature of the “response and punishment against the aggressor” would be determined by Tehran, according to a ministry spokesperson who appeared on Iranian state television.
Later present at the scene, Syria’s foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, stated, “My nation unequivocally denounces this abhorrent act of terrorism, which specifically targeted the Iranian consulate in Damascus and resulted in the loss of life among several innocent individuals.”
Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also issued condemnations for the attack, while Hamas, an organisation supported by Iran, condemned it “entirely.
