At least eight people including an army commander killed as Israel strikes Iran embassy annex in Damascus, capital city of Syria on Monday.
Iranian state media said a senior commander with the Quds Force of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, was among the dead.
Syria’s official news agency SANA said "the Israeli attack targeted the Iranian consulate building in the Mazzeh neighbourhood of Damascus".
AFP correspondents at the scene confirmed the building next to the embassy, an annex, had been levelled, in an upscale neighbourhood of Damascus. AFP images showed a pile of rubble about two stories high beside a fenced compound.
Iranian media also reported that the strikes in Damascus completely destroyed the annex building, and that the ambassador was unharmed.
In response of Israeli airstrike, Iran'S ambassador in Syria said, "The zionist enemy DOES NOT respect any international norms. We stand alongside the resisting people and do not fear the criminality of this entity. The aggression reflects the reality of the entity that does not recognize any international laws and does everything contrary to humanity. Iran's response to "Israel's" targeting of our consulate in Damascus will be harsh."
Russia strongly condemns Israeli airstrike
Russia condemned Israeli airstrike targeting the Iranian consulate general building in Damascus, and considers attacks on diplomatic facilities unacceptable, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
"We strongly condemn this attack on the Iranian consular mission in Syria. We consider any attacks on diplomatic and consular facilities … to be completely unacceptable," the ministry said in a statement.
Russia believes that any aggressive actions of Israeli are "are totally unacceptable and must be stopped," the ministry added.
"We urge the Israeli leadership to abandon the practice of provocative acts of force on the territory of Syria and other neighboring countries, which can lead to extremely dangerous consequences throughout the region," the statement read.
According to Sputnik, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed that the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate general building in Syria’s Damascus killed two IRGC generals, General Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Brigadier General Mohammad-Hadi Haji-Rahimi, and five officers.
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