Posted on 04/01/24
| News Source: Arutz-7
Israeli diplomatic and defense officials have not commented on the air strikes near the Iranian consulate in Damascus on Monday, in which senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards official Mohammad Reza Zahedi was killed, but four Israeli officials acknowledged to The New York Times that Israel had carried out the attack.
According to the report, the strikes targeted a secret meeting in which Iranian intelligence officials and Palestinian Arab terrorists gathered to discuss the war in Gaza. Among them were leaders of the Islamic Jihad.
Syrian and Iranian state news agencies reported that at least seven people were killed in the strikes, including Zahedi.
Iran’s ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, said in a statement that the consulate’s building came under attack by two F-35 fighter jets. He added that among those killed were several Iranian military advisers deployed to Syria.
Syria’s defense ministry said the strikes happened around 5:00 p.m. local time.
Nasser Kanaani, the spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, said Iran was still investigating the scope of the attack but threatened consequences for Israel and that Iran “will decide on how to respond and punish the aggressor.”
A US source claimed that Israel informed the US of the attack a few minutes before it went into action.