Eight people were killed, including a senior commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, after the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate and the Iranian ambassador’s residence in Damascus, today Monday, as reported by state media.

Syria’s official SANA news agency reported that “the Israeli attack targeted the Iranian consulate building in the Mazzeh district of Damascus.”

There was no immediate comment from Israel, which has stepped up attacks against Iran-linked militants amid the Gaza war that has been raging against Hamas since October 7.

“Hossein Akbari, ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Damascus, and his family were not injured in the Israeli attack,” Iran’s Noor news agency reported.

Two AFP correspondents at the scene confirmed that the building next to the embassy had been leveled by the attack.

The incident came days after the Observatory reported that Israeli strikes killed 53 people in Syria, including 38 soldiers and seven members of Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad “strongly condemns” the Israeli strikes on the Iranian consulate and the ambassador’s residence in the Syrian capital.

In a statement broadcast to Syria’s state news agency SANA, Faisal Mekdad said the “terrorist attack” had killed “several innocent lives,” without elaborating.

Israel “is not in a position to influence the relationship between Iran and Syria,” he added.