Iran’s Supreme Leader has vowed to make “evil” Israel “regret” a missile strike on the Iranian embassy in Syria that killed one of his top generals.
In response to the death of Sardar Mohammad Reza Zahedi, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei declared: “We will make them regret this crime and others like it, by God’s will. The evil regime will be punished by the hands of our brave men.”
The Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s elite military force, confirmed that seven of its members were killed in the airstrike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria.
Syrian officials and state media have blamed Israel for the attack.
This strike on Iran’s embassy compound marks an escalation in Israel’s targeting of Iranian military officials and their allies in Syria, a campaign that has ramped up since Hamas militants – backed by Iran – attacked Israel on October 7.
READ MORE: Israel ‘kills Iran Revolutionary Guard leader’ in fiery airstrike
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, labelled a terrorist group by both the US and the EU, also denounced the attack on the consulate.
“The Zionist entity is intent on dragging the region into significant escalation,” it warned.
The group also said that the Israeli attack will “plunge its citizens into a bloodbath and disasters they cannot bear.”
Israel, which rarely acknowledges strikes against Iranian targets, said it had no comment on the latest attack in Syria.
However, a military spokesman blamed Iran for a drone attack against a naval base in southern Israel on Monday.
The missile airstrike in Syria took the lives of Gen. Ali Reza Zahdi, who was the former head of the elite Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria until 2016, along with his deputy, Gen. Mohammad Hadi Hajriahimi, and five other officers.
Although the Iranian consulate building was destroyed in the attack, the main embassy building was left untouched, as reported by Syria’s state news agency, SANA.
Iran’s ambassador, Hossein Akbari, criticised Israel’s actions, stating that there were up to seven fatalities and promising an equal response.
Rescue teams are still looking for bodies in the rubble, with two police officers who were guarding the building reported injured.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief spokesman for Israel’s army, linked a drone attack on a naval base in southern Israel earlier on Monday to Iranian direction.
Charles Lister, who is the director of the Syria program at the Middle East Institute, labelled the airstrike as a “major escalation,” and predicted retaliatory measures.
Syria’s foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, denounced the attack, reporting multiple casualties, while Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, called on other nations to condemn Israel’s actions.
Iranian state television pointed out that the Iranian ambassador’s residence was located within the consulate building.
Israel has carried out numerous airstrikes on targets within government-controlled areas of Syria in recent years, with increased activity coinciding with conflicts in Gaza and clashes along the Lebanon-Israel border.
These attacks have hit bases of groups allied with Iran, like Hezbollah, who have sent thousands of fighters to help Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government. Earlier Israeli airstrikes in Damascus led to the deaths of Iranian advisers.
