Iran vows revenge for Israel strike on embassy in Syria, as US insists it was not involved

The United States has told Iran that it had no involvement or prior knowledge of an Israeli airstrike that destroyed the Iranian embassy in Syria and killed several Iranian military figures, as Iran vowed to exact revenge for the attack.

On Monday evening, an airstrike hit the compound of the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital, Damascus, destroying a consular building adjacent to the main embassy building and killing seven members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) – two top generals and five other military advisers.

According to a report by the outlet, Axios, a spokesperson for the US National Security Council told it that there was no American involvement in the strike and that they “did not know about it ahead of time”, with an unnamed senior US official revealing that Washington had clarified that to Tehran.

The strike is thought to have been conducted by Israel, as is usually the case with targets on Iranian sites in Syria and, although Tel Aviv did not yet declare responsibility for the attack, an unnamed senior Israeli government official told Reuters that those hit on Monday had “been behind many attacks on Israeli and American assets and had plans for additional attacks”.

READ: US plan for deterrence through show of strength in Middle East not affecting Iran: Analyst

Iran has since vowed to take revenge on Israel, with Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, stating that “The hands of our brave men will punish the Zionist regime. We will make it regret this crime and others it has committed.”

Khamenei’s political advisor, Ali Shamkhani, implicated the US in the strike, stating on X that America “remains directly responsible whether or not it was aware of the intention to carry out this attack”. Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi, also warned that Israel “must know that it will never achieve its goals and that this cowardly crime will not go unanswered”.

The attack on the Iranian embassy in Syria could potentially increase the threat of further escalation in the region. Although Tehran has managed to avoid any direct conflict with Israel throughout the past five months of the Occupation’s offensive on and bombardment of the Gaza Strip – as well as the ramping up of Israeli strikes against Iranian targets in Syria – there are concerns that the direct destruction of official diplomatic headquarters and facilities would prove to spark a more direct conflict in the region.

READ: Russia calls for UNSC session after Israel strikes Iran’s diplomatic mission in Syria