Iranian consulate destroyed and senior IRGC commander killed in ‘Israeli airstrike’

A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander and several diplomats have been killed in an Israeli airstrike that destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Iran has claimed.

Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the senior commander in the Quds force, one of branches of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed in the strike on a building said to be near the consulate, according to Iranian state TV.

Several other people are reported to have lost their lives, but the ambassador is believed to have survived.

Iran’s ambassador to Syria said between five and seven people had been killed, and said the Iranian response to the strike would be “harsh”.

Iranian state television said several Iranian diplomats had been killed.

Photos from the scene appear to show the complete destruction of the consulate in Damascus, in what Iran has called an “assassination attempt”.

Both Reuters and Iran’s Tasnim news agency claimed there had been an Israeli airstrike, citing a Lebanese security source.

Since the start of the war against Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza on 7 October, Israel has repeatedly targeted Iranian interests across the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and assorted militias in Syria and Iraq.

Asked about the Damascus strike, an Israeli military spokesperson said: “We do not comment on reports in the foreign media.”

An Israeli military spokesperson said: “We do not comment on reports in the foreign media.”

Iranian state television said the Iranian ambassador’s residence was in the consular building, which stood next to the embassy.

This story is being updated