Israeli missile levels Iranian consulate building in Syria

DAMASCUS/TEHRAN - At least five people, including a senior Iranian commander, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the building of the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday, according to the Iranian ambassador to Syria and other sources.

The Syrian Defense Ministry said the missile attack occurred at about 5:00 pm local time (1400 GMT) when Israel launched an aerial aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, targeting the building of the Iranian Consulate in Damascus.

Iranian Ambassador to Syria Hossein Akbari, speaking to reporters in front of the Iranian embassy in Damascus after the attack, said five to seven people were killed in the attack.

He added that Israel's F-35 fighter jets had launched six missiles from the occupied Golan Heights in a "criminal", targeted offense on the Iranian consulate's building.

According to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, Mohammad-Reza Zahedi, a commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and his deputy, Mohammad-Hadi Haji Rahimi, were killed in the attack.

Twelve others have been injured in the attack, the report added.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the strikes resulted in the death of eight people, including a high-ranking commander of the Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon, as well as two Iranian advisors and five members from the IRGC.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, who arrived at the scene following the missile strike, condemned the attack and stressed that the move would not affect Syrian-Iranian relations.