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As thick clouds of dark smoke curled into the blue sky above the Iranian embassy in Damascus on Monday afternoon, it was clear something major had happened. Dust and debris covered the street and cars inside the embassy compound were on fire. Once the smoke dissipated, it emerged that a suspected Israeli airstrike had reduced an entire five-storey consular building next to the main embassy to a pile of twisted rebar and smashed concrete. The Iranian ambassador’s residence was on the top two floors. But he was not home at the time and did not appear to have been the target. Among the seven Iranians killed were Mohammad Reza Zahedi, one of Iran’s most senior commanders in its feared Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), his deputy Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, and five other officers. Experts have described the attack as unprecedented and a dangerous escalation that threatens to finally tip Israel’s six-month long war with Hamas into a wider regional conflict. #iran #israe
