TEMPO.CO, Jerusalem - Iran said on Tuesday, April 2, it would take revenge on Israel for an airstrike that killed two of its generals and five other military advisers at the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, heightening 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 its backs as the Gaza war has rippled around the Middle East.

Until now, Iran has avoided directly entering the fray, while backing allies' attacks on Israeli and U.S. targets.

Israel has not declared responsibility for the attack which destroyed a consular building adjacent to the main embassy building 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 advisor 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".

According to Axios, citing a U.S. official, Washington told Tehran it "had no involvement" or advanced knowledge of the Israeli strike.

Iranian state media said the death toll was 13 including six Syrians. Two security sources in Lebanon said at least one member of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah was killed in the strike.

Syrian civil defence teams were still working on Tuesday to clear the rubble as ambulances were parked nearby.

Iran's ambassador to Syria Hossein Akbari, who was not wounded in the strike, has said the flattened building housed his residence. He could be seen exiting the main embassy building on Tuesday with his security guards.

Iran's U.N. mission said the attack was a violation of "the foundational principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises".

Akbari, the ambassador, told Reuters it showed total disrespect for international law and both Iran and Syria had the right to respond.

Wafa Badr, a Mezzeh resident, said she was home in the kitchen when she heard an enormous blast.

"I was knocked unconscious for about 10 minutes – we were so surprised with what happened. Both our cars are destroyed," she said.

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'DETERRENCE POSTURE'

Julien Barnes-Dacey of the European Council on Foreign Relations said the attack marked a more overt Israeli strike on Iranian state interests than previously seen in Syria.

"While Tehran wants to avoid being sucked into a wider war...it may feel compelled to respond more forcefully to maintain the credibility of its regional deterrence posture," Barnes-Dacey said.

Iranian state media said Tehran believed the target was Mohammad Reza Zahedi, one of the brigadier generals killed.

A biography shared by Hezbollah's al-Manar outlet said Zahedi was in the Quds Force from 2008 to 2016 - the IRGC arm which oversees allied militia around the region.

He then led the Guards' operations from 2016 and 2019 before returning to the Quds Force to work on its Lebanon and Syria operations until this year.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel was operating all over the Middle East "in a multi-front war" to exact a price from those who threaten it, without referring to the strike.

Russia called it an act of aggression and called on Israel to cease such "absolutely unacceptable" actions.

The attack was one of the heaviest blows to the IRGC since the assassination of Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike on Baghdad in 2020.

Iran backs groups that have entered the fray across the region since Hamas ignited the Gaza war on Oct. 7 by attacking Israel, with Hezbollah waging attacks from Lebanon while Iraqi groups have fired on U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq and the Houthis of Yemen have attacked Red Sea shipping.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has drawn on Iranian military aid during more than a decade of civil war.

Israel typically does not discuss attacks by its forces on Syria. Asked about the strike, an Israeli military spokesperson said: "We do not comment on reports in the foreign media".

The Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 killed about 1,200 people and resulted in another 253 being taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities.

REUTERS

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