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DAMASCUS: A part of Iran\u2019s consulate in the Syrian capital was flattened on Monday by what was described as an Israeli air strike, a startling apparent escalation of conflict in the Middle East that would pit Israel against Iran and its allies.<\/p>\n The Israeli air strikes destroyed the Iranian embassy\u2019s consular annex, killing and wounding everyone inside, Damascus said as Iranian state TV reported a Revolutionary Guards commander among the dead.<\/p>\n Monday\u2019s attack was the first time the vast embassy compound itself had been hit, and comes amid soaring tensions over Tel Aviv\u2019s war in Gaza and intensifying violence between Israel and Iran\u2019s allies.<\/p>\n UK-based war monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said eight people, including several Guards members, were killed when \u201cIsraeli missiles\u2026 destroyed the building of an annex to the Iranian embassy\u201d.<\/p>\n Revolutionary Guard commander among eight killed in strike; Tehran says it reserves the right to respond<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Iran\u2019s ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, giving a lower death toll, told Iranian state TV that \u201cat least five people were killed in the attack which was carried out by F-35 fighter jets\u201d.<\/p>\n AFP<\/em> reporters saw the annex building had caved in, and emergency services were rushing to search for victims under the rubble as sirens wailed in the upscale Damascus district of Mazzeh.<\/p>\n Reuters<\/em> reporters at the scene saw smoke rising from rubble of a building that had been flattened, and emergency vehicles parked outside.<\/p>\n An Iranian flag hung from a pole in front of the debris. The Syrian interior and foreign ministers were both spotted at the scene.<\/p>\n Security forces shielded the site where earth-moving equipment was brought in to clear the debris and remove charred vehicles from the road outside, watched by a crowd of onlookers.<\/p>\n Syria\u2019s defence ministry said \u201cthe attack destroyed the entire building, killing and injuring everyone inside, and work is underway to recover the bodies and rescue the wounded from under the rubble\u201d.<\/p>\n Iranian state TV said among those killed was a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps\u2019 foreign operations arm, the Quds Force, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi.<\/p>\n The Observatory said it had \u201cconfirmed the killing of a high-ranking leader who served as the leader of the Quds Force for Syria and Lebanon, two Iranian advisers, and five members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard\u201d.<\/p>\n Israel has repeatedly hit Iranian targets during the six-month war in Gaza and typically does not comment about its attacks on Syria. Asked about the strike, an Israeli military spokesperson said: \u201cWe do not comment on reports in the foreign media\u201d.<\/p>\n When asked about the attack, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said: \u201cI am not going to comment with respect to this strike as we do need to know more.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Heinous attack\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Iran preserves the right to take reciprocal actions against the Israeli attack in Damascus on its consulate, the country\u2019s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday, according to state media.<\/p>\n \u201cTehran will decide on \u201cthe type of response and punishment against the aggressor,\u201d Mr Kanaani added.<\/p>\n Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad also denounced the attack after visiting the site.<\/p>\n \u201cWe strongly condemn this heinous terrorist attack that targeted the Iranian consulate building in Damascus killing a number of innocent people,\u201d Mekdad said in a statement carried by SANA<\/em>.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s ambassador, Akbari, said that \u201cthe Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate shows the reality of the Zionist entity which recognises no international laws and does all that is inhumane to achieve its goals\u201d.<\/p>\n Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian called for a \u201cserious response by the international community\u201d.<\/p>\n Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An Iranian flag hangs from a pole in front of the debris as emergency and security personnel gather after Israeli strikes hit a part of the Iranian embassy in Syria\u2019s capital, on Monday evening.\u2014AFP DAMASCUS: A part of Iran\u2019s consulate in the Syrian capital was flattened on Monday by what was described as an Israeli 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