Iran will retaliate for a suspected Israeli air strike against its consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Tuesday, a day after seven Iranian military commanders were killed in the attack.
"Having failed to destroy the will of the resistance front, the Zionist regime (Israel) has put blind assassinations back on its agenda to save itself. It must know that it will never achieve its goals and that this cowardly crime will not go unanswered," Raisi said, according to state media.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned on Tuesday that Israel "will be punished by the hands of our brave men. We will make them regret this crime and others like it."
Israel has long targeted Iran's military installations in Syria and those of its proxies, but Monday's attack was the first time it apparently hit the vast embassy compound itself. An Israeli military spokesperson declined to comment.
Ramping up strikes
It has ramped up those strikes in parallel with its campaign against Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas, which ignited the Gaza war with an October 7 attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and took 253 hostage.
More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive in Gaza, according to Hamas-run health authorities.
This is a developing story.