Iran has vowed to retaliate after Israel bombed the Iranian Consulate in Damascus, Syria, killing at least seven people, including three senior Iranian commanders and at least four other Iranian officers. The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll could be as high as 11. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the al-Quds Force, is said to be the highest-ranking Iranian military officer to be killed since the U.S. assassinated General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020. Iran’s Ambassador to Syria Hossen Akbari condemned Israel for striking a diplomatic building.

Hossen Akbari: “We told you before: The Zionist entity knows very well that such crimes and any kind of crimes will not remain without response.”