Iran accused Israel of a deadly rocket attack on a building in the Syrian capital of Damascus serving as a residence for Iranian military advisers, killing at least four people.
Israel hasn’t commented on the strike, which risks further ratcheting up tensions between the Middle Eastern adversaries as Israel continues to pursue its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It follows an attack this week by Iran on what Tehran said was an Israeli spy base in Iraq.
Two of those killed on Saturday were identified as the head of intelligence at the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. and his deputy, according to Iran’s state-run Student News Network, which didn’t say where it got the information.
Israel’s Channel 12 said on X, formerly Twitter, that the four-story building, in the Mezzeh neighborhood of Damascus, was Iran’s intelligence headquarters in Syria.
A “violent explosion” was heard in the area, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which put the death toll at six, without citing anyone.
Iran says its presence is Syria is restricted to an advisory role for its military. Two IRGC officers died in Syria last month.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel is prepared to attack Iran for its role in supporting Israel’s enemies.
“Iran is the head of the octopus and you see its tentacles all around from the Houthis to Hezbollah to Hamas,” Netanyahu told reporters.
This week’s Iranian strike in Iraq was in turn characterized as retaliation for Israel’s assassination of one of its commanders in Syria.
It was the first time Tehran has publicly said it’s attacked an Israeli target since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist group by the US and European Union, more than 100 days ago.