Iran vows revenge on Israel after Damascus embassy attack

DUBAI/JERUSALEM: Iran said on Tuesday it would take revenge on Israel for an airstrike that killed two of its generals and five military advisers at its embassy compound in Damascus, raising the risk of further escalation in conflict in the Middle East.

The strike marked one of the most significant attacks yet on Iranian interests in Syria, where Israel has stepped up a long-running military campaign against Iran and groups it backs as the Gaza war has rippled around the Middle East.

Until now, Iran has avoided directly entering the fray, while supporting allies’ attacks on Israeli and US targets.

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, which destroyed a consular building adjacent to the main embassy complex in the upscale Mezzeh district on Monday night, killing seven members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).

But a senior Israeli government official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said those hit had “been behind many attacks on Israeli and American assets and had plans for additional attacks”.

The embassy “was not a target”, the official said.Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed revenge.

“The Zionist regime will be punished by the hands of our brave men. We will make it regret this crime and others it has committed,” he said.

Khamenei’s political adviser Ali Shamkhani, in a post on X, said the United States “remains directly responsible whether or not it was aware of the intention to carry out this attack”.