Iran, which claims that Israel launched a deadly airstrike on the Syrian consulate, promises retaliation as the Middle East crisis worsens.

After accusing Israel of striking its embassy complex in Syria on Monday, Iran has pledged to react. This fatal escalation of regional tensions over the Gaza war seems to increase the likelihood of a wider Middle East conflict.  According to Iran's Foreign Ministry, the airstrike demolished the consulate building in the country's capital of Damascus, killing at least seven personnel, including senior commander Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi and Mohammed Reza Zahedi, a high commander in the IRGC.  Additionally, at least six Syrian people perished, according to a Tuesday broadcast on Iranian official television.

Following the killing of IRGC General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020 by then-US President Donald Trump, Zahedi was the most well-known Iranian target to be slain. He was the former head of the IRGC's air force, ground troops, and deputy commander of its operations.

Iran and Syria both claimed that Israel was the attack's mastermind. Tehran issued a threat of a "severe response," and Hezbollah, the influential Lebanese terrorist organization that Iran backs, declared that the attack will be faced with "retribution and revenge." Iran added that because of America's backing of Israel, it would hold the country "answerable."  Israel would face consequences for the strike, according to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while President Ebrahim Raisi declared that it will "not go unanswered," according to state news agency IRNA.

The Israeli military stated that it would not respond to reports from outside sources. Israel, according to a military spokesman, believes that the target that was hit was a "military building of Quds forces," an IRGC unit that is in charge of conducting operations abroad.  "This is not an embassy or consulate, based on our intelligence," Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told CNN. "To reiterate, this is not an embassy or consulate. This is a Quds military facility in Damascus that is posing as a residential structure.  According to the New York Times, four unidentified Israeli officials admitted that Israel was the attack's perpetrator.

Israel and Syria.  The US accords particular status to its own embassies and consulates overseas as well as those of other nations located within the US. "An attack on an embassy is considered an attack on the country it represents," the US State Department states.

According to a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, neither the United States nor its allies were aware of the impending strike.According to a US official, Tehran received the intelligence "directly."