Air attack from Israel

Iranian brigadier general killed in Damascus

All that remained of the building on the grounds of the Iranian embassy in Damascus was a pile of rubble.(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

A Revolutionary Guards commander has been killed in an Israeli airstrike on an annex of the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus. Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, "one of the leading commanders of the Al-Quds Brigades", "died as a martyr in an attack by the Zionist regime", Iranian state television reported on Monday.

The Al-Quds Brigades are responsible for foreign missions of the Revolutionary Guards. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least eight people died in the attack. An AFP correspondent on the ground said that a building adjacent to the embassy in the Syrian capital had been hit. Syrian and Iranian state media also reported the attack.

"Everyone in the building killed or injured"
According to the Syrian Ministry of Defense, the building hit was the consular section of the Iranian embassy. According to the statement, "everyone in the building was killed or injured" in the attack and rescue work is underway. According to Syrian sources, the Israeli airstrikes were carried out from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Emergency and security forces at the embassy site(Bild: APA/AFP/MAHER AL MOUNES)

The attack took place in the Masseh district, where several embassies and UN facilities are located. As the AFP correspondent reported, an Iranian flag could be seen at the entrance to the destroyed building. According to two AFP reporters, loud bangs could be heard in Damascus at the time of the attack.

The Iranian news agency Nour reported that the Iranian ambassador and his family were unharmed. Before the attack, Syrian air defenses had targeted several "enemy targets" near Damascus, according to the Syrian state news agency SANA.

Syria: "Despicable terrorist attack"
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad described the attack as a "heinous terrorist attack" that had killed "a number of innocent people". However, Israel could "have no influence on the ties between Iran and Syria".