DAMASCUS, Syria — Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Monday mentioned Monday that seven of its members have been killed in an airstrike that struck Iran’s consulate within the Syrian capital.
Syrian officers and state media pinned the assault on Israel, which declined to remark.
The strike on Iran’s embassy compound seems to indicate an escalation of Israel’s focusing on of Iranian navy officers and their allies in Syria, which have intensified since Hamas militants — who’re supported by Iran — attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows under.
An Israeli airstrike destroyed Iran’s consular constructing in Syria, killing a senior Iranian navy chief and several other others, Syrian officers and state media mentioned Monday.
The strike on Iran’s embassy compound seems to indicate an escalation of Israel’s focusing on of Iranian navy officers and their allies in Syria, which have intensified since Hamas militants — who’re supported by Iran — attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
Clashes have additionally elevated since then between Israel and Hezbollah — one other militant group supported by Iran — alongside Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.
Israel, which hardly ever acknowledges such strikes, mentioned it had no touch upon the most recent assault in Syria.
The assault killed Iranian navy adviser Gen. Ali Reza Zahdi, who led the elite Quds Power in Lebanon and Syria till 2016, in line with two tv channels in Syria — the Iranian Arabic-language channel Al-Alam, and pan-Arab channel Al-Mayadeen.
Whereas Iran’s consular constructing was leveled within the assault, in line with Syria’s state information company, SANA, its foremost embassy constructing remained intact.
Iran’s ambassador, Hossein Akbari, condemned Israel and mentioned as many as seven folks have been killed. First responders have been nonetheless trying to find our bodies underneath the rubble. Akbari mentioned two cops who guard the constructing have been wounded.
He vowed revenge for the strike “on the identical magnitude and harshness.”
The chief spokesman for Israel’s military, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, mentioned late Monday {that a} drone assault on a naval base in southern Israel early Monday was “directed by Iran.” There have been no accidents and solely minor harm to a constructing, the military mentioned.
The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, which can be backed by Iran, accused Israel of looking for to widen the battle in Gaza.
Charles Lister, director of the Syria program of the Washington-based Center East Institute suppose tank, known as the strike a “main escalation.” The assault is bound to attract retaliation, he wrote on the social media platform X.
Syria’s international minister, Faisal Mekdad, mentioned “a number of” folks have been killed, and in a telephone name along with his counterpart in Iran, he condemned Israel.
A spokesman for Iran’s international ministry, Nasser Kanaani, known as on different nations to sentence the strike. Iranian state tv mentioned the Iranian ambassador’s residence was contained in the consular constructing, which stood subsequent to the embassy. The primary embassy remained intact.
Israel has carried out a whole lot of strikes on targets in government-controlled elements of Syria in recent times.
Such airstrikes have escalated in current months in opposition to the backdrop of Israel’s struggle in opposition to Hamas within the Gaza Strip and ongoing clashes between Israel’s navy and Hezbollah on the Lebanon-Israel border.
Although it hardly ever acknowledges its actions in Syria, Israel has mentioned it targets bases of Iran-allied militant teams equivalent to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has despatched 1000’s of fighters to help Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.
An Israeli airstrike in a Damascus neighborhood in December killed a longtime adviser of the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Syria, Seyed Razi Mousavi.
An identical strike on a constructing in Damascus in January killed no less than 5 Iranian advisers. Final week, airstrikes over the strategic jap Syrian province of Deir el-Zour close to the Iraqi border killed an Iranian adviser.
___
Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Related Press author Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington, contributed to this report.
.jpeg?width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800&w=350&resize=350,250&ssl=1 "Pope Francis in ‘critical condition’ after suffering severe respiratory crisis")
.jpeg?width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800&w=120&resize=120,86&ssl=1 "Pope Francis in ‘critical condition’ after suffering severe respiratory crisis")