Iranian Consulate in Damascus Attacked

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said seven of its members including two high-ranking generals were killed in an Israeli attack on an Iranian consulate in Damascus.

The Guards strongly condemned the attack in a statement, confirming that Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Brigadier General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi were among the dead.

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".

Syria's defense 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".

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad also denounced the attack after visiting the site.

"We strongly condemn this heinous terrorist attack that targeted the Iranian consulate building in Damascus killing a number of innocent people," Mekdad said.

Iran's ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, giving a lower toll, said the attack was carried out by F35 fighter jets which fired six missiles at the building.

Iran's ambassador, Akbari, vowed the attack "will lead to our decisive response", adding "the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate shows the reality of the Zionist entity which recognises no international laws and does all that is inhumane to achieve its goals".

The Damascus strikes were the fifth in eight days to hit Syria, whose President Bashar al-Assad is supported by Iran, Israel's long-time arch foe in the region.