Iran’s foreign minister visited the Syrian capital on Monday, local media reported, a week after a deadly Israeli strike destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, sending regional tensions skyrocketing.

Tehran, a key ally of the Syrian regime, has vowed to avenge last Monday’s airstrike on the Iranian embassy’s consular section that killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members, including two generals.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian began a regional tour a day earlier in Oman, long a mediator between Tehran and the West, where Muscat’s foreign minister called for de-escalation.

Amirabdollahian is set to meet Syrian regime president Bashar Al-Assad and foreign minister Faisal Mikdad during the visit, while the Damascus regime’s information ministry said he was to inaugurate a new Iranian consular section.

Syria’s pro-regime newspaper Al-Watan said the officials’ talks would be “mainly focused” on repercussions of last week’s strike.

(Source: The New Arab)