"title"=>"Iranian consulate in Syria destroyed in ‘air strike’",
"summary"=>"Tehran said senior commander was killed in the blast, which it said was conducted by Israel.",
"content"=>"\n
An explosion in the Syrian capital, Damascus, has leveled an Iranian diplomatic mission and killed a senior commander in Tehran’s armed forces, Syrian and Iranian media claimed Monday.
\n\n\n\nIn what could be a dramatic escalation in the conflict in the Middle East, Iran said the blast resulted from a strike by Israeli warplanes. Six people are reported to have died, including Mohammad Reza Zahedi, an officer in an elite unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.
\n\n\n\nAccording to Iranian state media, several diplomats were also killed, although the ambassador, Hossein Akbari, is reported to have been unharmed.
\n\n\n\nPhotos and videos from the scene appear to show the building flattened, with emergency services personnel sifting through the rubble.
\n\n\n\nResponding to the news, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad “strongly condemned” the alleged attack and said “the Israeli occupation entity will not be able to impact ties between Iran and Syria.” Tehran has provided military support to the Syrian regime since the start of the country’s civil war in 2011.
\n\n\n\nSpeaking to his Syrian counterpart later on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian claimed that Israel was behind the alleged strike, which he described as “a breach of all international conventions.”
\n\n\n\nThe Israeli Ministry of Defense didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from POLITICO, although a spokesman told other media outlets, including Reuters: “We do not comment on reports in foreign media.”
\n\n\n\nIsrael has repeatedly carried out air strikes against Iranian targets in Syria and Iran-backed Hezbollah militias in Lebanon since the start of its war against Tehran’s ally, Hamas, in Gaza in October.
\n","author"=>"Gabriel Gavin",
"link"=>"https://www.politico.eu/article/iran-consulate-syria-damascus-destroyed-israel-air-strike/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS_Syndication",
"published_date"=>Mon, 01 Apr 2024 17:28:40.000000000 UTC +00:00,
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"created_at"=>Wed, 03 Apr 2024 14:28:45.115949000 UTC +00:00,
"updated_at"=>Mon, 13 May 2024 19:02:34.641349000 UTC +00:00,
"newspaper"=>"Politico EU",
"macro_region"=>"Europe"}