DEADLY STRIKE Iranian military leaders ‘assassinated’ in Syria consulate blast as Tehran blames Israel for strike that ‘killed seven’
IRANIAN military leaders are among seven dead after a consulate was destroyed in a blast in Syria.
Two senior commanders, of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), have been named by local media as the bosses who died in the blast in the Syrian capital Damascus.
The military said this evening that five officers also died alongside the men in the strike on the consulate.
While several diplomats were among the dead, the ambassador is said to have survived.
Iranian state television reported this was an "assassination attempt".
Tehran's ambassador to Damascus has now said that the Iranian response to the strike will be "harsh". Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "With extreme brutality, contrary to all international conventions, they targeted my place of residence and the consular section of the embassy...We will reciprocate when we want."
Israel has not commented on claims it was responsible for the strike.
Tensions have been rising in the past week, with Israel killing an Iran-backed Hezbollah commander.
Horror pics of the scene show the Iranian consulate reduced to rubble.Smoke could be seen billowing into the sky, while crowds gathered on the streets.
Others could be seen scanning the rubble for survivors and bodies, while nearby buildings were damaged in the blast, too.
Snaps also showed Syria's foreign minister Faisal Mekdad and the Iranian ambassador in Damascus Hossein Akbari near the blast site, surveying the damage.
Both a Lebanese security source who spoke to Reuters and Iran's Tasnim news agency claimed it had been an Israeli airstrike.
SkyNews reported an Israeli military spokesperson said: "We do not comment on reports in the foreign media."
BBC reported the Syrian defence ministry said Israeli aircraft targeted the consulate building at about 5pm local time today.
Syrian air defences shot down some of the missiles, but others made it through and "destroyed the entire building, killing and injuring everyone inside", the ministry added.
DEAD MEN NAMED
The IRGC announced tonight that Brigadier Generals Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi had been killed in the blast.
Along with the commanders, the five officers killed in the attack were named as Hossein Amanallahi, Sayid Mehdi Jalalati, Mohsen Sedaghat, Ali Agha Babaei and Sayid Ali Salehi Roozbahani.
This week dramatic footage showed Ali Abed Akhsan Naim being killed in an Israeli airstrike.
The short clip shows Naim's final moments alive as his car was driving down a road in southern Lebanon’s Bazouriye.
The Israeli military said on Friday that Naim was one of the Iranian-backed militia's leaders in heavy-warhead rocket fire, responsible for conducting and planning attacks against Israeli civilians.
Since the commencement of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, there have been almost daily skirmishes along Israel's border with Lebanon.
Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon have killed around 270 Hezbollah combatants and 50 civilians, including doctors, civilians, and journalists.
In northern Israel, over a dozen Israeli forces and a half-dozen civilians were killed.
Israel also launched its bloodiest attacks in months in northern Syria's Aleppo region early Friday.
Three Hezbollah militants were confirmed to be among the dead in Syria, war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Naim's death came just days after Hamas terror chief Yahya Sinwar's righthand man Marwan Issa was killed in another Israeli airstrike.
Branded the "Shadow Man", Issa was number three on the IDF's most-wanted list following the horrors of Hamas' massacre in Israel which killed 1,200 people.
'WALKING NIGHTMARE'
He was killed on March 10 during an operation in the Gaza Strip, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari confirmed today.
Issa was the deputy commander of Hamas' military wing and acted as one of Yahya Sinwar's henchmen.
He died alongside another top terror chief - Ghazi Abu Tamaa.
The terror boss reported directly to Sinwar, the monster dubbed “The Hamas Bin Laden” who masterminded the October massacre in Israel.
Nicknamed the "Shadow Man", Issa was number three on Israel's most-wanted list, alongside Mohammed Deif and Sinwar.
A source from inside the terror group previously told Reuters: "Brother Issa is the walking nightmare of the enemy."
Israeli forces are still hunting his fellow terror chiefs, despite some reports Deif was killed in an earlier strike.
The history of Israel and Iran's relationship
There's been an ongoing conflict between Israel (left) and Iran (right).
In 1947, Iran was among 13 countries that voted against the United Nations Partition Plan for the British Mandate of Palestine.
Two years later, Iran also voted against Israel's admission to the United Nations.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran severed all diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel, and its theocratic government does not recognize the legitimacy of Israel as a state.
The turn from cold peace to open hostility began in the early 1990s, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the defeat of Iraq in the Gulf War, after which relative power in the Middle East shifted to Iran and Israel.
CONFLICT 'HEATS UP'
The conflict escalated in the early 1990s, as Yitzhak Rabin's government adopted a more aggressive posture on Iran.
Rhetorical conflict heated up during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who made inflammatory statements against Israel.
Other factors that have contributed to the escalation of bilateral tensions include Iran's development of nuclear technology relative to Israel's long-stated Begin Doctrine, Iran's funding of Islamist groups such as Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas, as well as alleged involvement in terrorist attacks such as the 1992 attack on Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires and the 1994 AMIA bombing, and Israel's alleged support for militant groups such as the People's Mujahedin of Iran and Jundallah as well as alleged covert Israeli operations in Iran including multiple assassinations and bombings.
'COMPLEX AND ONGOING'
Since 1985, Iran and Israel have been engaged in an ongoing proxy conflict that has greatly affected the geopolitics of the Middle East, and has included direct military confrontations between Iranian and Israeli organizations, such as in the 2006 Lebanon War.
The conflict has played out in various ways, including through support for opposing factions in conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
Iran has provided support to the Syrian government, while Israel has supported opposition groups.
In Yemen, Iran has provided support to the Houthi rebels, while Israel has provided support to the Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels.
The conflict has also involved cyber attacks and sabotage against each other's infrastructure, including attacks on nuclear facilities and oil tankers.
Overall, the Iran-Israel proxy conflict is a complex and ongoing conflict that has had a significant impact on the political and security dynamics of the Middle East.
INSIDE THE WAR
In the Israeli–Lebanese conflict, Iran has supported Lebanese Shia militias, most notably Hezbollah. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran has backed Palestinian groups such as Hamas.
Israel has supported Iranian rebels, such as the People's Mujahedin of Iran, conducted airstrikes against Iranian allies in Syria and assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists. In 2018 Israeli forces directly attacked Iranian forces in Syria.
Iranian Islamists have long championed the Palestinian people, whom they perceive as "oppressed".
Scholars believe that by supporting the Palestinians, Iran seeks greater acceptance among Sunnis and Arabs, both of whom dominate the Middle East.
Ideologically, Iran seeks to replace Israel with a one-state solution and has predicted Israel's demise. Israel sees Iran as an existential threat, and accuses its regime of harboring genocidal intentions.
Consequently, Israel has sought sanctions and military action against Iran to stop it from acquiring nuclear weapons.
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