The attack was confirmed on Monday afternoon by Iran, which said “a decisive response” against Israel is expected.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the leading general Mohammad Reza Zahedi was killed in the airstrike. The data has not been confirmed by independent sources or commented on by Israel. However, Iranian media, which is under state control, confirms that a Revolutionary Guard commander has been killed.
Israel’s Army Radio reported the attack, without saying that Israel was behind the attack.
Iran: Six robots
According to several news media, it was Israeli warplanes that carried out the attack on the central parts of Damascus.
Iran said in a statement that Israeli F35 fighter jets fired six missiles at the Iranian consulate. The building, located in the Iranian embassy complex, is said to have been completely destroyed. Iran’s ambassador in Damascus is unharmed.
Sources in Syria tell the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) that five more people from the Revolutionary Guard’s armed wing, the elite Quds Force, are among the dead.
Multiple attacks
In recent days, Israel is believed to have carried out several airstrikes against targets inside Syria.
On Sunday, Israeli warplanes carried out attacks on a research facility in Jamraya just outside Damascus. According to SOHR, two people were killed. The deed is condemned by the Syrian government, which singles out Israel as responsible for the attack.
Last week, Israel was singled out as responsible for an airstrike near Aleppo in Syria, where the Islamist movement Hezbollah is believed to have been targeted. At least 42 people – 36 Syrian soldiers and 6 members of the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah – were killed, according to SOHR.
The Israeli Jerusalem Post reports that the Israeli army IDF has attacked ten targets in southern Lebanon. According to the IDF, the air raids have been aimed at weapons depots and military facilities, the newspaper writes.