Seven IRGC Officials Including Senior Quds Force Commander Killed Due to Israeli Attack, Iran Promises Firm Response

Illustration of Israeli F-35 fighter jets. (Wikimedia Commons/Deror Avi)

JAKARTA - Iran promised a "firm" response after the deadly attack on its consulate in Damascus, Syria, which Israel blamed.

A warplane believed to be Israeli bombed the Iranian Embassy in Mezzeh, Damascus, Syria Monday, an attack that Iran says killed seven of its military advisers, including two senior commanders, marking a major escalation in Israel's war with its regional foes.

"We strongly condemn this cruel terrorist attack which targeted the Iranian consulate building in Damascus and killed a number of innocent people," said Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, who was seen at the location, reported by Reuters April 2.

Iran's ambassador to Syria said the attack hit a consular building in the embassy compound and his residence on the top two floors.

Ambassador Hossein Akbari accused Israel of responsibility for the attack, stating the building "was targeted by six missiles from Israeli F-35 fighter aircraft," quoted by CNN.

Syrian state media, the Syrian Arab News Agency, also reported "an act of Israeli aggression targeting on Monday afternoon a building in the Mezzeh neighborhood of Damascus, causing massive destruction."

Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi. (Wikimedia Commons/Fars Media Corporation/Ali Khara)

Akbari said Israel's attack "contravenes all international law" and Iran "will take firm action in response to this."

Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement that seven Iranian military advisers were killed in the attack, including Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the Quds Force, an elite unit of the elite IRGC force.

Apart from Brigadier General Mohammed Reza Zahedi, the IRGC said Hadi Haji Rahimi was also killed in the attack.

Haji Rahimi was confirmed as the second senior commander killed in an attack on the Iranian consulate building in the Syrian capital, according to a statement shared by state news agency IRNA on Monday evening. Haji Rahimi is reportedly the coordinator of the Quds Force, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim News.

The IRGC statement also named five other officials killed in the attack, namely Hossein Aman Elahi, Mehdi Jalalati, Mohsen Sedaghat, Ali Aghababaee and Ali Salehi Roozbahani.

"This is probably the first time that the Zionist regime has allowed itself to attack the official building of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, above which the flag of the Islamic Republic flies," Akbari claimed.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian called it a "violation of all international obligations and conventions" and demanded a "serious response from the international community."

"Iran has the right to take reciprocal measures and will decide the type of response and punishment against the aggressor," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said, according to the IRGC-affiliated Fars News.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military would not comment on the attack in Damascus, but a military spokesman added:

"I repeat, this is not a consulate and this is not an embassy. This is a Quds force military building disguised as a civilian building in Damascus," Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in an interview with CNN.