Israel has bombed an Iranian diplomatic facility in Syria in a strike that killed a top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, according to Iran’s state media.
“[Israel has] gone beyond the red line,” Iranian Ambassador to Syria Hossein Akbari said Monday on an Iranian state media broadcast. “Iran has never left any crimes of the Zionist regime without an answer. So, definitely, the Zionists and their allies know that in proportion to the crime they have committed, they need to await a proper response on the basis of Iran’s choosing at the right place and time.
The strike was announced by Syrian state media. Iran has announced that Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, identified as the commander of the IRGC Quds Force for Syria and Lebanon, died in the bombardment. Israel has targeted Iranian forces in Syria numerous times in the years since Iran deployed forces to prop up Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, but the destruction of a diplomatic facility is unusual.
“We strongly condemn this atrocious terrorist attack that targeted the Iranian consulate building in Damascus and killed a number of innocents,” Syrian Minister Faisal Mekdad said.
The strike killed seven Guard officers, as the Guard confirmed. Zahedi, who was sanctioned by the United States in 2010, was described at the time as “a liaison to Hezbollah and Syrian intelligence services” who played a key role in “guaranteeing weapons shipments to Hezbollah,” which is a Lebanon-based terrorist organization and Iran’s most significant proxy force.
“According to our intelligence, this is no consulate, and this is no embassy,” an Israel Defense Forces spokesman told CNN. “I repeat: This is no consulate, and this is no embassy. This is a military building disguised as a civilian building in Damascus.”
Syrian state media claimed that the strike was launched from Israeli F-35s, a fifth-generation U.S.-made stealth fighter jet. The strike comes just days after Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant pledged that Israel would expand operations against Hezbollah.
“Israel is turning from defending to pursuing Hezbollah. We will reach wherever the organization operates, in Beirut, Damascus, and in more distant places,” Gallant said last week.
The Lebanese militants have conducted regular rocket attacks on northern Israel in the months since Hamas perpetrated the Oct. 7 terrorist attack that ignited the war in Gaza.
“The precision and daring of this operation cannot be overstated,” Foundation for Defense of Democracies chief executive Mark Dubowitz said on Monday. “Israel is reaching a decision point on its northern front, where Hezbollah’s lethal provocations have become unbearable. Taking out a top-tier figure in the hostile axis that runs from Tehran through Damascus to Beirut is an effective way of getting the enemy to focus on what’s at stake.”
The Guard maintained that the attack was a response to “the wolfish Zionist regime’s irreparable defeats in the face of the Palestinian resistance and the steadfastness of the people of Gaza, as well as [its] ignominy in the face of the steely resolve of the fighters of the regional resistance front.”
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s team declined to confirm reports that Israel gave the United States a last-minute notification of the impending strike.
“We are in conversations with partners in the region, gathering more information,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. “But at this point, we don’t have confirmation either of the target or the responsible party.”
