Israel accused of deadly strike on Iranian consulate in Syria | BBC News

Iranian state media say a suspected Israeli attack destroyed an Iranian embassy building in the Syrian capital Damascus, with the top commander of Iran's powerful revolutionary guard among the dead. Israel has not commented on the incident. These are the last images we have of the scene. Iranian state television reports that the senior commander is Resa Zahedi, who led the Palestinian division of the Revolutionary Guard K's Force. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, says at least eight people have been killed, but so far there is no official confirmation of the numbers. The Iranian ambassador and his family are reported to be unharmed.

Well, let's hear the latest from our correspondent in Jerusalem, that's Hugo Bea, Hugo, what else are you hearing about this incident? Yes, Anita, so this is a very significant escalation, so again, as you said, Iranian and Syrian state. The media says that an Israeli air

strike

targeted the Iranian

consulate

in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and our report suggests that the top commander of Iran's powerful revolutionary guards, Muhammad Raa sahi, was killed, very significantly, a high-profile member of Iran's revolutionary guards. he supposedly murdered, so we are now hearing these accusations. We have not had any type of reaction from the Israeli authorities.

We know that in recent years Israel has carried out attacks against positions and also against members of Iran's revolutionary guard, but uh, it's really uh, it's very rare for the Israeli authorities to acknowledge their involvement in those assassinations, so, of course new, a very significant development, we have seen that these targeted assassinations have been occurring frequently since the beginning of the war, uh, between Israel and Hamas, Hamas obviously. It is a group that is supported by Iran, it is part of the so-called resistance axis of Iran and we are having a reaction from Iran, already, the Iranian authorities are saying that they are going to give a decisive response, so, again, it is progress. very significant, it seems to be a very significant escalation also with this attack Hugo, thank you very much for that, Hugo Bea, let's now talk to Farz Maad, who is a senior researcher at the Middle East Institute about this story and um forz Hugo describes this as a escalation Do you see this particular attack as an escalation of what's been happening?

There is no doubt about that Anita. I think some might want to dismiss this as part of the ongoing operations Israel has been carrying out against Iran and some of the Iranian proxies operating from Syria, namely Hezbollah, there have been high-ranking Iranian commanders killed in the past , including a major attack in December, however, this is the highest ranking Iranian revolutionary C guard commander to have been killed up to that point and I think what sets this apart is that essentially the Iranian

consulate

in Damascus, which according to the international law is Iranian territory, it has been razed, so there has been a major escalation here on behalf of Israel, of course the Iranians have preference to take the war on Israel through proxies using indirectly Hamas, Hezbollah, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and others, the Israelis here retaliating in a more direct way, willing to risk that escalation, yes and of course we are waiting for absolute confirmation that Muhammad resa zahi is among the dead, but that is certainly the report we are receiving if we look at these images of the explosion scene.

I'm going to ask our director to show us those images, as far as we know, what we're seeing here is part of the consulate, but the buildings on either side appear relatively intact, so it appears to have been a very precise attack. Yes, the Israeli precision in pursuing these individuals, whether in Syria or even in Lebanon, has been quite remarkable, but it has also been REM is notable and noteworthy is the fact that the Israelis have some pretty powerful operational intelligence, you know. where are these commanders, they have pursued several high-ranking Hamas and Hisbah commanders in Lebanon, targeting them in meetings, targeting them in their own private rooms, etc. that raises quite a few questions and concerns in terms of operational security for Iran and for these groups in terms of Israel's ability to reach them, okay, thank you very much for your thoughts on this developing story, farz Maad from the Middle East Institute and let's get more now from our international editor Jeremy Bowen, who is in northern Israel Jeremy, hello to you and I would like our viewers to put what happened in Damascus in the broader context of what is happening in the region, especially since uh. the war between Hamas and Israel well, essentially there has been an increasingly serious war over Israel Lebanon B order between Israeli forces and hisb, which is the dominant political militia movement in Lebanon, which is very close to Iran and also very close to Syria. regime now if it weren't for the fact that so much has been happening in Gaza in the war since October 7.

I think there's been a lot more international attention on what's been happening here and of course there are connections, that's why it's happening. So what we've been hearing here tonight there's been quite a bit of activity towards Lebanon, the border is not very away from here and I think what has been happening while you were listening to this is an escalation. for Israel uh, I think they are testing the resolve of both Iran and their clients, their hisbah allies, particularly in Iran, to see how they will respond because while they have been involved in this particularly in a series of scare exchanges every time greater. with Israel they have always kept it within what in this part of the world is sometimes known as the rules of the hisbah game pursuing military objectives, but Israel seems to be pushing it to go to the next level quite frequently and this is a big step towards above, so now the big question is that the Iranians in particular are interested in continuing to reestablish the deterrence that they feel they have been building against their enemies;

In other words, for its enemies to feel that they cannot attack Iran, its people or its targets, well, the Israelis have said, oh yes, we can, we are going to do this, so now the question is: does Iran respond? how do you respond? It may not be the way you would expect. It may not be. Know? I wouldn't expect them to start sending missiles to Israel, much less it could be a cyber attack. I mean, this is all speculation on my part, but the point is that this really increasingly dangerous war between Iran and its allies and proxies and the Israelis has taken a pretty big step tonight and what impact do you think it will have Jeremy on the terrain.

Regarding the situation specifically in Gaza. Well, I think Gaza now has its own dynamic there. I don't believe it. that you know you can, there have actually been responses in other parts of the region because of what's been happening in Gaza. I don't think it necessarily works the other way around, you know, the point is when this all started 6 months ago, now October 7th. There were fears that the war would spread well, the war has spread and that has been clear at least since the end of last year and this is another example of the way in which a part of the world that is fragile and burning now has given one step further, you know, I've been doing some reporting here today, near the Lebanese border, in the town of Kirit Shimona, the Israeli town, talking to the mayor and the mayor says that Israel should invade Lebanon because it should invade the The South should confront their BAH and destroy it because in this area thousands of Israelis have not returned home since October, everyone has been evacuated, the cities are empty, so you know, this is an ongoing crisis that has all the chances of getting worse.

Jeremy, thank you very much Jeremy Bowen, our Middle East editor.