Israeli warplanes target Iranian consulate, kill Guards commander in Damascus

By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 02 Apr 2024

DAMASCUS:  Israeli warplanes targeted the Iranian consulate in Damascus on Monday, resulting in the death of senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi, according to a Lebanese security source.

Smoke rose from the rubble of a flattened building in the Mezzeh district of the Syrian capital, with emergency vehicles on the scene.

An Israeli military spokesperson declined to comment on reports from foreign media outlets. However, Syrian state television confirmed the attack on the consulate building. Syria’s official news agency, SANA, specified that the Israeli strike targeted the Iranian consulate building in Damascus’ Mazzeh neighborhood.

Iranian media reported that the strikes completely destroyed the annex building, but the Iranian ambassador, Hossein Akbari, and his family were unharmed. Witnesses at the scene corroborated that the building adjacent to the embassy had been leveled by the strike.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in Britain, stated that Israeli missiles destroyed the annex building of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, resulting in the deaths of six individuals.

Earlier, Syria’s official SANA news agency reported that the country’s air defense systems engaged enemy targets near Damascus. The incident occurred shortly after the Observatory documented Israeli strikes that killed 53 individuals in Syria, including 38 soldiers and seven members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

This toll marked the highest number of casualties among Syrian army personnel in Israeli strikes since the onset of the Israel-Hamas conflict on October 7, as reported by the monitoring group.