(Reuters) – Iran’s consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus was flattened on Monday in what Syrian and Iranian media described as an Israeli air strike, a startling apparent escalation of conflict in the Middle East that would pit Israel against Iran and its allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Lebanese security source, speaking to Reuters, said one of the dead was Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Iranian state television said several Iranian diplomats had been killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reuters reporters at the scene in the Mezzeh district of the Syrian capital saw smoke rising from rubble of a building that had been flattened, and emergency vehicles parked outside. An Iranian flag hung from a pole in front of the debris. The Syrian and Iranian foreign ministers were both spotted at the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israel, which has repeatedly hit Iranian targets during the six-month war in Gaza, declined to comment on the incident, following its usual practice. An Israeli military spokesperson said: “We do not comment on reports in the foreign media.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran’s Tasnim news agency said five people were killed in the Israeli strike. Syria’s SANA state news agency reported an unspecified number of deaths and injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the Iranian-backed Palestinian faction Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, Israel has ramped up airstrikes in Syria against Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia and Iran’s Guards, both of which support the government of President Bashar al-Assad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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