Israeli strike destroys Iran consulate in Syria, kills Guards commander

Israeli air strikes destroyed the Iranian embassy's consular annex in Damascus Monday, Syrian and Iranian officials said, with a top Revolutionary Guard commander among eight reported to have been killed amid worsening regional tensions.Israel said it would not comment on the reported attack, but Iranian officials vowed a stiff response with fears of even further violence between Israel and Iran's allies triggered by the Gaza war.Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said eight people, including several Guards members, were killed when "Israeli missiles... destroyed the building of an annex to the Iranian embassy".Iran's ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, said the attack was carried out by F35 fighter jets" which fired six missiles at the building.Syria's defence ministry said "the attack destroyed the entire building, killing and injuring everyone inside, and work is underway to recover the bodies and rescue the wounded from under the rubble".Iranian state TV said among those killed was a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' foreign operations arm, the Quds Force, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi.The Observatory said it had "confirmed the killing of a high-ranking leader who served as the leader of the Quds Force for Syria and Lebanon, two Iranian advisors, and five members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard".The targeted building is next to the Iranian embassy.Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian called for a "serious response by the international community".The Damascus strike came three days after the Observatory reported Israeli strikes that had killed 53 people in Syria, including 38 soldiers and seven members of Hezbollah.