A senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been killed in an airstrike on the country’s consulate in Syria, according to Iranian state TV.
Mohammad Reza Zahedi was reportedly killed in the explosion, which destroyed the Iranian consulate building in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Image: Emergency services work at a destroyed building hit by an air strike in Damascus, Syria. Pic: AP
Tehran’s ambassador to Damascus, Hossein Akbari, claimed between five and seven people had been killed in the strike.
Syrian foreign minister Faisal Mekdad also told media after meeting Iran’s ambassador that “several” people were killed, without offering further information.
Image: Syrian foreign minister Faisal Mekdad walks with Iran’s ambassador in Damascus Hossein Akbari following the strike. Pic: Reuters
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A Lebanese security source who spoke to Reuters and Iran’s Tasnim news agency claimed the explosion was an Israeli airstrike.
Israel declined to comment on the incident.
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The death of Mr Zahedi and the destruction of the Iranian embassy is likely to further inflame tensions in the Middle East.
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Tehran’s ambassador to Damascus promised the Iranian response to the strike would be “harsh”.
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, also called the strike “a breach of all international conventions”.
Source : Sky News
